An Artist's Perspective
by LoveWasOurs
Summary: Celeste and Lysander's relationship A closer look from Falling a Step Below
1. ONE: My Kitten

"Finished!"

Celeste attempted to admire the portrait she'd drawn as she sat at the desk in her bedroom, her drawing pencil in hand and paper taking up a large portion of the top of the desk. She pouted a bit as the drawing didn't satisfy her; something was a bit off but she couldn't pinpoint what.

Ever since she'd met him, Celeste had been spending plenty of her time drawing Lysander. She found something about him alluring and the second he crossed her mind, she always yanked out a sketch pad. Whether it was his mismatched eyes, his lopsided haircut with it's intriguing color, or his seventeenth century styled Victorian attire, she wasn't sure; the only thing she was completely sure of was that she wanted to draw him. Maybe it was something about the way he wouldn't meet a person's gaze unless you really catch his attention or the way he talked or his secluded personality but either way, the thought of drawing him had her bursting with inspiration. All this and yet she'd never been able to master a single drawing of him. It wasn't normally like that; on a usual occasion, she could draw a person with ease and it could come out perfectly fine. But with Lysander, there was always something missing. It was like having a heated argument with someone and forgetting to say what you wanted to say, but realizing it too late.

Heaving a sigh, Celeste crumpled up the paper in front of her and tossed it into her garbage can with a flick of her wrist. She leaned forward, burying her face in her arms on her desk. She tried to bring up a mental image of Lysander in her brain. She could imagine him perfectly fine; she saw him frequently enough to do that, it was just she had trouble portraying his expression. She couldn't feel the aura that engulfed her whenever she was near him through the image and it was frustrating. Maybe there was something about him that she was unsuspectingly seeing in person that she was forgetting to portray in the image. She furrowed her brow. If she couldn't see it, how could it be drawn on blank paper? Was there a way to portray something unseen on paper? Well, of course there was. When it comes to an artist, there's always a way. But then again was anything nonexistent in an artist's world? That would, of course, depend on the person and how they portray the existence of something. For example, one artist could portray a dragon as a long, lizard-like creature, meanwhile another artist might portray a dragon as a cute little creature with large, round eyes. Do dragons even exist anyway? What would a dragon look like? Would it be huge and vicious or cute and pet-worthy?

Celeste forced herself to her feet, straightening out her nightgown before plopping down in her bed, burying her face into her pillow as she pulled her blanket up to the small of her back. Her thoughts tended to wander like that; she was always curious about things that didn't exactly have answers. Maybe that was why she was constantly trying to figure out Lysander. Not his personality or his history or anything; his physical appearance. Could it be that his physical appearance didn't have an answer to her and that's why she had no such luck drawing him? Nibbling on her lip, she decided she needed to figure out the question before she could come to the conclusion that there was no answer. The only thing she could decide about his physical appearance was that he was dashingly handsome. He had the kind of skin that you just wanted to touch, the kind of hair you just wanted to run your fingers through, the kind of lips you just wanted to kiss, and the kind of eyes that you could look into for days and never get tired of it. Celeste sighed with her face buried into her pillow. Letting her mind wander to Lysander would only prevent sleep but she couldn't help but think back to the morning she awoke with a killer hangover and a heartthrob of a man sleeping next to her. She was only wearing undergarment at the time, but she was sure they never did anything together; she would've felt at least a little different, right? People always expected otherwise somehow, but in reality she still very much had her innocence.

Celeste's teeth were buried into her lip as she recalled the second party she'd gotten too drunk at. She had blacked out the next morning but she could still recall certain moments with her clothes off, alone with Lysander in Castiel's room. That was one time where she had asked him to do something with her and, instead of taking advantage of her, he forced her into a long t-shirt and sent her to sleep in Maya's room. She was grateful that he hadn't taken advantage of her, however. She wanted to be sober for the first time she slept with someone. But ever since she had recalled those moments of that night, she hadn't had so much as a sip of alcohol out of fear she would embarrass herself like that in front of Lysander again. She rolled over, studying her ceiling, feeling exasperated. Why did it worry her so much to embarrass herself in front of him? Normally, she was hardly ever embarrassed. She'd even been called shameless once. Why were things different now?

She had drifted off into a peaceful slumber with that question in mind.

Celeste awoke to the sound of birds chirping outside and she took a deep sigh of relief, pushing herself to her feet, stretching, and washing up. The morning was her favorite time of day. School didn't start until eight but here she was, up at half past five in the morning. She loved taking her sweet time getting ready, since it was only morning once a day and she spent most of it in school. She put on a face mask after washing up, changing and fixing her hair while it dried. After taking it off, she did her makeup with precision until she could call it perfect. She took a step back to take in her entire appearance; little black cut-off shorts and floral lace black stockings with a tight graffiti t-shirt tucked into the shorts. She put on a necklace to complete the appearance before slipping her feet into a pair of stiletto boots. She gave her reflection one last glance before making her way to school.

Celeste approached the school confidently, gazing around for someone in particular. She wasn't exactly sure why or who for that matter, until her gaze found Lysander. He was sitting on a bench in the courtyard, gazing curiously at his notebook with his brow furrowed. Her feet deemed it necessary to approach him, and so they did without even a portion of purpose, until she found herself sitting beside him.

"Hey," she said, grinning at him.

"Hello," he answered, giving her little more than a glance.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, studying his expression.

"I… forgot my pencil," he said sheepishly.

"Oh, a pencil," she said, reaching into her bag, "I'll be glad to give you one. I mean I'm always drawing so I carry tons of them." She slipped a pencil out of her bag and passed it over to him.

With a grateful smile, he said, "Thank you."

"No problem," she said. Instead of writing in his notebook, he used the pencil as a bookmark and closed it. Having already sparked her curiosity, she continued to gaze at him but he didn't speak nor show any kind of expression. It was quiet but she liked the quiet somehow. Whenever she was near him, the quiet was okay. Although it wasn't exactly quiet, considering everybody around them was talking very loudly and obnoxiously. What was the quiet, though? Could it ever be the definition of quiet? It would always be loud somewhere, though. Was there ever a time where it was completely silent all across the globe? Is that even possible? Celeste mentally slapped herself when the bell rang for letting her mind wander instead of talking to Lysander when she had the chance.

During class, she pulled out her sketchpad and gazed at it, holding her pencil tightly. She wanted to draw him, but why did she have so much trouble doing so? Her gaze wandered to Lysander a few rows down to see that he now had his notebook open, holding the pencil she had loaned him. He was watching the window. She followed his gaze to see a little bird on the windowsill. It flapped its wings a few times but made no noise. Quite the beautiful bird it was, as well. She found herself drawing the bird instead, which, for a sketch, came out quite nicely on the paper as she was sure to include every detail she could. After she used her gray and black colored pencils to darken and shade it, it was almost an exact replica of the bird outside, except for the lack of the vibrant colors. She signed her initials along the uplifted wing of the bird, sighing. If only she could draw Lysander with so much ease.

By the time she had completed the drawing and signed it, the bell rang, echoing through the nearly silent class aside from the lecturing of the teacher. Celeste was at her feet in seconds, tucking her sketchpad under her arm, clenching all three pencils she had out in her hand and using her free hand to hoist a strap of her bag over her shoulder.

"Hey, Miss Cunningham!" Celeste greeted cheerfully as she entered the art room. Art was the last class she had before lunch, which was good because she occasionally skipped lunch to stay and work on her projects and whatnot.

"Oh, it's my kitten," Miss Cunningham said, grinning with a flip of her straight brown hair. She held out her hand, "Come on, kitten, let me see what you got today."

With a smile, Celeste passed over her sketchpad to Miss Cunningham. She flipped through the pages, a satisfied look on her face as she nodded at every photo. Then she came across a Lysander sketch that was incomplete; it was one that she didn't like and had forgotten to tear out.

"What's this?" Miss Cunningham asked, "It's not like you to leave a drawing incomplete!"

Celeste's smile faded and she shifted her weight to one side of her body. "I know," she said, "I forgot to throw that one away."

"Why?" she asked, studying it, "It looks really nice so far. Who is this guy anyways?"

"He's someone I met a couple months back," Celeste said with a sigh, "I just want to draw him but the drawings never seem to come out right. I mean if I didn't picture them as him, it would look okay but since it's supposed to be him, there's just something off that I can't figure out. It's been driving me nuts."

"Hmm," Miss Cunningham said, "Maybe you just need to get to know him better. Maybe if you figure him out, you can figure out what's wrong with the drawing. It sounds weird, but it's worked for me before."

"That's the thing," Celeste said, "He's not a talkative guy and he probably doesn't want me trying to pry him open."

Miss Cunningham folded her hands on the sketchpad, a thoughtful look on her face before saying, "Take baby steps then. Try hanging out with him more often, let him open up at his own pace."

"It's going to take me years," Celeste muttered, "but I'll never be satisfied unless it's done, so I'll try."

"That's my little kitten," Miss Cunningham said proudly before flipping through the rest of the drawings. She handed back the sketchpad, a satisfied smile on her face. "You're gonna make it big with this talent," she said.

Celeste smiled. Before taking a seat as the bell rang. The assignment was to paint; nothing in particular, just to paint. It was a good release for an artist, since with a pencil you can't scribble everywhere and call it art. Then again, art can be anything. The artist, himself, must decide how to perceive art. She stood at her easel, a paintbrush in her hand with watercolors beside her. There was only one thing she wanted to paint. Who knows, maybe painting him will be easier than drawing him. And it was; she was finished with her painting just before the bell rang and it came out looking like him. Painting him was obviously more difficult than drawing him but that was only because it was difficult to keep the colors from blending, especially with watercolors. It came out nicely, however, in contrast to her drawings of him. It eased her stress over the drawing problem a bit. She signed and turned in her painting before gathering her things. Miss Cunningham's voice stopped her at the door.

"Celeste, what if I contacted a friend of mine who owns a gallery to come take a look at your paintings? You really have the potential to become an amazing artist."

"Really? Would you do that?" Celeste said, "I'd love to hear what they think."

"That's great, kitten," she said, "By the way, did you paint him?"

"Yeah," Celeste said sheepishly, "I couldn't stop thinking about my difficulty drawing him so I thought painting him would turn out better. And it did, don't you think?"

"Yes, it's very lovely," Miss Cunningham said, admiring the painting, "Let me know how things go with the drawing, okay?"

"Okay," Celeste said, "See you later, Miss Cunningham."

"Bye, kitten!" Miss Cunningham said with a wave.

Celeste left the art room and went down the hall, approaching the cafeteria, slowing as she passed the hung up lunch menu. She grimaced as she read it before straightening up and approaching the outdoor cafeteria with quick strides. Her gaze found Lysander, and she immediately knew that was where Maya and Castiel would sit unless Maya decided to eat with Nathaniel again. She strode towards him, taking a seat across from him. He had a packed lunch, which would explain his not being in line.

"Hi," she said, smiling. He returned her greeting with a wave. Like usual, he wasn't speaking much. She glued her gaze to him, studying his features. What wasn't she putting on the paper that was on his face? Was it his eyes or maybe his nose? Maybe the shape of his lips or the size of his eyes? She could've possibly made his eyebrows too thin or too thick or too long or too short. She could've made his nose too thin or too fat or too big or too small. She could've made his lips too full or maybe not full enough, or she could've made them too wide or not wide enough. There was an endless possibility of things she could be doing wrong without realizing it. Was it really endless, though? What exactly was endless? Did the word endless have a definition? If it had no end, did it really exist? Was anything on Earth actually endless, besides numbers? Well, numbers technically had an end. People always argued that numbers were endless but whenever a person counts off, they always stop somewhere, right? So numbers did have an end. Of course, they could go further but there was no one in the world who was just constantly counting. Well didn't time do that?

Celeste hadn't realized she'd been staring at him while her thoughts wandered until she noticed his returning her gaze. She felt her cheeks heat up as she struggled to think of something to say to explain her behavior.

"Sorry, I was just—," she began, but was quickly interrupted by his wave of his hand, dismissing it. He gave her a smile that told her not to worry about it. And without words, he'd completely eased her embarrassment. So quickly and with so much ease, as if he had girls gawking at him all the time. "Hey, Lysander?" she said, "Do you want to go get something to eat with me after school on Wednesday?"

"I'd like that," he said with a kind smile.

"Great," she said, grinning. Her gaze found Castiel approaching, carrying his lunch and Maya not too far behind him, looking upset. Her motherly instincts kicked in and she waited until Maya sat down beside her before asking, "What's wrong?"

"Nathaniel is avoiding me again," she said pouting, as she gazed at her food with no intention of eating it, "He's just in the stupid student council room with all of those stupid class representatives. I swear Melody was hitting on him when I walked in."

"Aw, don't worry," Celeste said, "I'll talk to him."

Maya seemed to gain confidence from just that little proposal and straightened up, beginning to eat.

"Oh, guess what Miss Cunningham told me," Celeste said, a grin on her face in an attempt to brighten the mood.

"Who's Miss Cunningham?" Maya asked.

"The art teacher," Celeste said.

"Oh, is that the one who calls you kitten?" Maya asked.

"Yeah, that's the one," Celeste said, grinning.

"What did she say?"

"She said she's going to contact a friend of hers who owns an art gallery to look at my paintings," Celeste said, "She thinks I have real potential."

"That's awesome," Maya said, "There's your future, right there! Do you know what kind of themes you're going to do?"

Celeste thought for a moment. Hundreds of themes she could use blasted through her mind but for some reason, it kept going back to that painting of Lysander she'd completed earlier. She wanted to take him and turn him into some kind of theme. But the question was how?

"I'm not sure yet," Celeste admitted.

"Wait, hold on," Castiel interrupted, "The art teacher calls you kitten?" Celeste nodded. "Why?"

Celeste grinned and said, "Because I'm her favorite student."

"Do you have any ideas for a theme?" Maya asked.

"Well, I was thinking of taking something… something I don't know very well," she said, gazing at her hands, "and make a theme out of it." She knew she was referring to Lysander but she also knew the others had no idea.

"How do you do that?" Maya chuckled, "Wouldn't that be hard? That's like writing an essay on a topic you've never learned about, isn't it?"

With a shrug of her shoulders, Celeste lifted her gaze to the sky. "It wouldn't be fun if it was easy," she said.


	2. TWO: Victorian Prince

The next day, Celeste arrived at the art classroom, holding her sketchpad at her hip with a hopeful glint in her eyes. She was thinking of doing a Victorian theme to match Lysander's tastes, and just the idea of that gave her so many more ideas for paintings. But then again, there was a chance she didn't even get the offer to have her stuff in the gallery. She arrived at the art room to see Miss Cunningham practically exploding with excitement.

"Kitten!" she said cheerfully, "Guess what? I called Lauren, the art gallery owner I told you about, and she said she'd be interested in seeing what you've got!"

"What? Really?" Celeste said, grinning, "That's awesome! I can't wait."

"Great," Miss Cunningham said, "Kitten, I'm going to have you do a separate project from the rest of the class. You're an amazing artist already, but there's only room for improvement, right? So I want you to paint whatever you want today. Experiment techniques and things for today, okay? Can you skip lunch again?"

"Alright," Celeste said, "but when did Lauren say she'll look at my paintings?"

"Tomorrow," Miss Cunningham said, "so you've got all day today to practice and tomorrow too. After school, you can come here and borrow some supplies if you don't already have some at home. Then tomorrow I want to see you here this period and next period too. We'll be leaving after school."

"Tomorrow?" she said, "But tomorrow's Wednesday. I have plans."

"Kitten, this is a once in a lifetime offer," Miss Cunningham said, "I'm sure your friends can reschedule, right?"

Nibbling on her lip, Celeste nodded slowly although she wasn't sure about what Lysander would think if she skipped out on him. It was an offer that she'd thought only existed in her dreams, so maybe he would understand. Miss Cunningham gestured to the easel already set up. Celeste gathered her watercolor painting supplies and gazed at the empty canvas. In the end, she decided to draw a girl with a deep red Victorian styled dress to the floor in the photo. Her head wasn't in the painting but her hand lifted the dress off the floor a bit and her hair came out behind her as if she was running. Celeste wasn't sure how else to draw it, so she painted the hair blonde and curly so it came out behind her elegantly. The photo would match the theme perfectly, but she still had yet to give the theme a name.

"That's really good," Miss Cunningham said from over her shoulder, "You're going places, kitten!"

Celeste smiled as she took the photo and set it aside to dry completely as she turned to Miss Cunningham. "Miss Cunningham," she said, "I was wondering… say I did something wrong and I screw everything up. Would you be mad at me?"

"Of course not," Miss Cunningham said, furrowing her brow, "Whether you screw everything up or not, you're still my kitten."

Grinning, Celeste took another blank canvas and propped it up on her easel. "Thanks," she said. She gazed at it curiously for a moment. If she was going to have a Victorian theme… wait, wasn't it originally supposed to be about Lysander? In order to fit both of her previous paintings into one, she would need to come up with a theme that included both of them. Something in her head told her to make it so it revolved around the first portrait of Lysander she'd painted but also included things from the Victorian era. Hmm…

"I've got it!"

"Got an idea, kitten?" Miss Cunningham said at Celeste's sudden outburst.

"I know what my theme is going to be called," she said, "I'm going to call it 'Victorian Prince'. Yeah, I like that! It fits the last two paintings."

"You're including them both?" Miss Cunningham asked. Celeste nodded before returning to the canvas.

For her next painting, she decided to paint a Victorian-styled castle. She gave it a darker theme and finished it by setting the scenery. After it was finished, she set it beside the other for Miss Cunningham to admire. By the time she had completed putting everything away, the bell had already rung and Celeste was on the verge of being late to class. She held her sketchpad at her side, her bag over her shoulder as she rushed to her next class. In her rush to get to class, she ran into someone so hard, it sent her falling on her bottom, her bag falling to the floor beside her and her sketchpad dropping near her feet. Just as she had settled on to the ground, the late bell rang. She sighed with exasperation, rubbing her forehead.

"Sorry," said the voice of the person who had unintentionally knocked her over, "I'm sorry." She sat up at the sound of his voice to see Lysander. He gathered her sketchpad in one arm, stretching out the other towards her. She took it and he pulled her to her feet with an easy tug of her arm. She hoisted a strap of her bag over her shoulder and he handed over her sketchpad.

"Lysander, I'm glad I ran into you," Celeste said, "I know we had plans tomorrow, but can we reschedule for Thursday? I'm really sorry, but I have an important meeting tomorrow."

"It's fine," he said with a nonchalant wave of his hand, "really."

"Great," she said, smiling, "I'm glad you understand." Her gaze lingered on him for a few moments before she brushed past him, slipping inside the classroom.

The art gallery owner had strongly approved of including the paintings in her gallery; the only thing she asked more of Celeste was to finish and perfect the theme by next week. Lauren had never actually asked about the theme, but she seemed in a hurry so it didn't matter much. Celeste had only guessed that they would discuss the theme at another time. The viewing of her theme would be next week, when it was supposed to be completed. So now, Celeste sat across from Lysander at a café near the school, gazing at her plate full of food in front of her. She hadn't realized how hungry she was until now. It didn't occur to her the past few days to eat, so she hadn't been doing that. At least not until now. She wanted to eat it all in a few bites but she didn't want to look like a sloppy eater in front of Lysander.

"Are you not hungry?" he asked, simply watching as she gazed at her pile of food.

She gave him a smile before picking up a fork and digging in. She was careful not to eat too quickly or too much like she hadn't eaten—which she hadn't; three and a half days was quite a bit of time to go without eating. Before she knew it, she had finished her plate much before Lysander, although she had double the amount of food that he had.

"You seem hungry," he teased, gazing at her empty plate.

"Sorry," she said, grimacing at being unable to control her behavior, "I don't normally eat like this… it's just that I haven't eaten in a few days."

"A few days?" he said, "Why?"

"I've been too busy," she said, shrugging, "Miss Cunningham wanted me to work on my technique for a couple days and skip lunch to do it so I could paint in her room before my meeting with this art gallery owner. I've been doing that so I haven't had time to eat."

He paused, as if pondering what to say before replying with, "You paint?"

"Yeah," she said, proudly, "I relish in the fact that I have talent in art, so I try to expand the things I try so that I'm not only drawing. I even started sculpting recently; of course I'm going to need to practice that if I'm going to be any good, but still."

"That's interesting," he said, "You wouldn't mind showing me sometime, would you?"

"Some of my paintings?" she said, "Yeah, sure. Just stop by the art room any time after school. I'm usually there. It's nice to have a break though; I think I'm getting an artist's block."

"You shouldn't push yourself too hard," he said, "It's clear you are, since you're forgetting to eat."

"I know," she said, "I just get too into it sometimes. It's hard to explain."

He didn't question her as he slowly finished his food. Celeste felt a bit off, watching him. After spending so much of her time just watching him, she was sure to have every detail of his face memorized, right? So why couldn't she portray all of those details correctly on paper? She gave a sigh which, in turn, caused him to give her a curious gaze. She simply shook her head, letting her gaze wander to the window, wondering why she hadn't learned anything today about him, aside from the fact that he took an interest in her art.

After eating, they split the bill and he walked her home. While walking, he didn't say much. Celeste wasn't even sure if he paid attention to her constant ramblings about whatever when her mind went off track; he just kept his gaze glued to the floor. It only piqued her curiosity even more but she didn't mention it. Once they arrived at her home, she felt a bit remorseful towards the fact that she hadn't asked him any questions about himself, and yet she wasn't even sure if he'd have answered them. She considered inviting him inside but decided against it as she wished him goodnight and disappeared inside the front door of her home.

Celeste stood in front of her easel, gazing at the canvas blankly with no idea what else to paint. After about ten minutes of attempting to think of something, she eventually decided to drop it and hurry to the shower, bathing and readying herself for bed. It wasn't late yet but she'd begun to feel increasingly tired the past couple of days. She curled up in her bed, feeling more than just comfortable as she closed her eyes and let her mind wander.

It always seemed to wander back to Lysander, thinking of his mismatched eyes and how they were both deeper than each other. It was almost as if his eyes were passageways to the soul inside of his hard shell that she was attempting to pierce into. And his hair… every time she thought of his hair, her fingers tingled with the desire to run through it… that way she could hold his face closer to hers and feel his breathing warm on her face just before their lips met and… wait, what? When her mind began coming up with crazy conclusions to things that would otherwise be possibly okay, she wasn't sure. But she was sure she had a nice time with him at the café and she definitely wanted to do it again, despite the fact that she hadn't managed to know him any better than she did before. He was a good listener; that was definite. Her eyes remained closed as she realized something, lifting her fingers to her lips as she traced the curve. The thought of him brought a smile to her face.

The next morning, Celeste decided to wear a floral white and pale pink blouse tucked into beige shorts that pulled up to her belly button over another pair of floral laced stockings that disappeared into regular boots with hardly a boost to her height at all. She had her hair straightened so it only took a few strokes of her brush to fix it before she did her makeup. Thinking back to what Lysander had said the day before brought her to the kitchen somehow and she threw together a sandwich and ate it quickly before deciding to drive to school to give her more time in the morning. She sat at a bench in the courtyard and pulled her sketchpad out of her bag and found an empty page, a pencil in hand as she gazed at it. She hadn't drawn anything with pencils in what felt like ages, due to her being stuck in front of an easel for so long. She knew it would pay off at the viewing of her theme and she would get a break for a while, but it still hurt her that she was sketch-deprived. She began with the simple sketch of a face that could easily turn into anyone with more detail and, eventually, she found herself drawing Maya. Maya was a gorgeous girl after all, so Celeste didn't mind drawing her in the least. She had just finished darkening the sketch when a voice reached her.

"You're so talented."

Celeste lifted her gaze to find Lysander standing above her, watching her draw. Immediately, she brightened and lost all grogginess she'd carried from sleeping for so long.

"Good morning," she said cheerfully, "And thank you!"

"Morning," he said, sitting beside her. She could tell how tired he was just by looking at him; his eyelids were a little puffy, his lips were dry, his eyes were a bit narrow.

"You're not a morning person, are you?" she said, "You look tired."

He nodded. "Is it obvious?" he said sheepishly. She giggled.

"I'm a morning person," she said, "I just like brighter colors and the night doesn't have much of that."

"I prefer nights," he said, "How early are you awake?"

Grinning, she said, "I occasionally wake up at five A.M. but when I'm really tired, I wake up at five thirty. It's early, but I like watching the sun come up."

He yawned as if it was a reflex at her even mentioning waking up at the crack of dawn. "I don't understand how you could do that," he said.

"What time do you wake up?" she asked curiously.

"Seven," he said.

She giggled and said, "Oh I'm up an hour or two before you. It's kind of funny." He stayed quiet, allowing her to return to her sketch. Maya came out easily on the paper until Celeste had reflected every detail into the illustration. She could feel Lysander watching from over her shoulder beside her, but he didn't say anything; she was just glad to have his company. Ironically, just as she had finished the drawing, Maya was hurrying towards her.

"Celeste, Celeste, Celeste," she said quickly, panting in between words, "have you talked to Nathaniel yet?"

"Not yet," she said sheepishly, "I've been busy. Should I go now?" Maya nodded.

"He hasn't been answering my texts all morning," Maya said worriedly, "I think he's lost interest."

"Aw, don't think like that, honey," Celeste said, getting to her feet, "Maybe something happened that he's not ready to talk about yet and he's just upset, or maybe he's going through something. I'll talk to him."

Maya gazed at the drawing open in Celeste's sketchpad and smiled. "Aw, it's me," she said, "You're amazing, Celeste."

Celeste gave her a wave of her hand as if to dismiss the compliment. "Do you want it?" she asked. Maya shook her head.

"It's really good, but I still have the other ones that you drew for me," she said, "You can keep that one." The way she bounced on her toes showed that she was impatient for Celeste to hurry and talk to Nathaniel. Clearly this was hurting her, whatever Nathaniel was up to and Celeste was determined to get to the bottom of it as she put her sketchpad in her bag and waved to Lysander before brushing past Maya. With her chin up, she approached the student council room and gave a light knock before opening the door. The sight made her gasp; Nathaniel pressed against Melody, who was leaning against a table with one knee up on his hip and her other foot on the floor. They were in a tight lip lock.

"Um, am I interrupting something?" she said slowly.

Nathaniel was a foot away from Melody the next second, looking as flustered as ever. He and Celeste both knew what was really happening in the room; Melody was just as clueless as Maya. Of course when Maya had told her recently that she and Nathaniel had gotten back together, she had assumed that he had broken up with Melody, but clearly that wasn't the case.

"Uh, d-do you need s-something?" he stammered in an attempt to sound sure; clearly he was failing.

"Yes," Celeste said, "I need to speak to mister president alone; sorry Melody."

Melody dismissed her apology with a wave of her hand and left the room, closing the door.

"Okay, where do I begin?" Celeste said, tapping her chin with her finger, "Oh, gosh, Nathaniel, you're just falling lower and lower on my list of people I approve of. Hmm…" she thought for a few moments before snapping her fingers, "Oh, I have a way to start this!" She let her expression fall grave as she put her hands on her hips, shifting her weight to one side of her body. "Are you stupid?!" she said so loudly, her voice echoed in the room. Nathaniel flinched as if what she had said had physically hurt him.

"Don't tell Maya," he said quickly, "Please, Celeste! I'm begging you!"

"Why shouldn't I tell Maya?" she said, fuming, "She deserves to know how much you really don't deserve her. And you know what, Nathaniel? You don't have to cheat if it's because you don't want Maya to get hurt. Frankly, I think she's been getting a lot closer to Castiel lately."

He grimaced at the thought, avoiding her gaze. "I'm not doing it because I don't want her to get hurt," he said, "I love her."

"No you don't," Celeste said, "If you think this is love, then you clearly have no freaking clue about what love even is. If you really loved her, you would never have even considered dating any other girl."

"I do love her," he said, "You just… don't understand."

"I understand that you're a player," she said, "I understand that Maya's way too good for you. I understand that even if she went out with a tree, she'd still be doing much better than dating you. You remember last time, how I told you I lost all respect for you? That never really came back but now I'm just going to think of you as nothing. Maya doesn't deserve all the crap you give her and I just don't think you're worth it."

"You don't understand," he repeated more firmly, "I love Maya but I can't break up with Melody."

"Yeah you can," she said, "You just walk up to her, you know with your feet, and then just use your mouth to say 'it's over'. Two words that you've had no trouble saying to Maya in the past, if you remember."

"It's because I'm scared," he admitted, "Like you said, Maya has been getting closer to Castiel and I don't want to go through that."

"Okay, so all you have to do is dump Melody and then go get your girl," Celeste said, "Cheating on her won't make her like you more."

"I know," he said, "I just… I want someone else there to cushion the blow if that happens."

"You're stupid," she said bluntly, "Maya may be getting closer to Castiel but right now she's head over heels for you. It would be really easy to win her back now."

"Just please," he said, "I'll clear this up. Just don't tell Maya. Please."

Celeste sighed, giving her forehead a thorough and frustrated rubbing before shrugging. "Sure, whatever," she muttered.

"Promise me that you won't tell her," he said.

She sighed again before saying, "I promise."


	3. THREE: He Can Cook

Celeste gazed at the lunch menu, a grimace on her face. Why did they always have to serve so many gross things? On a normal occasion, she would gladly eat a hamburger but here, she knew it would be too undercooked to possibly be edible. Eventually deciding it would be best to just eat later, she approached the table where she and the others normally sat at and took her seat. Lysander was seated across from her like usual, studying the empty space where her tray should be curiously.

"I don't like the school lunches," she said.

"Why don't you pack a lunch?" he asked.

She shrugged. "It never crosses my mind in the morning," she said, "I should though."

He nodded slowly, returning his gaze to his food and pushing it towards her. She was a bit surprised but shook her head quickly.

"That's really nice of you, but I couldn't," she said, "Then you wouldn't have a lunch."

He shrugged. "I'm not very hungry," he said.

"No, really," she said, "I'll eat later, I'm fine."

His brow went up. "Somehow I have a hard time believing that you'll eat later," he said, "Take it."

Celeste nibbled on her lip a bit before finally agreeing. It was a packed one, and an exquisite one at that.

"Wow," she said, "Did you buy this or make it? It's really good."

He breathed a chuckle, avoiding her gaze. "My brother made it," he said.

"Oh," she said, "I didn't even know you had a brother."

Celeste began eating her new lunch, feeling extremely grateful towards Lysander for his consideration. Maya plopped down beside her, her cheeks puffed out and her brow furrowed and she looked rather cute with that expression on her face.

"What's wrong?" Celeste asked.

"Nathaniel just blew me off," she muttered, "I went into the student council room and he was like 'I'm busy'."

Her mocking impression of Nathaniel evoked a giggle from Celeste. "I wish you'd break up with him," she sighed, feeling a pang of guilt from what she knew about him, "He's a jerk, he really is."

"What did he say when you talked to him?" Maya asked.

She shrugged. "Not much," she said, "He's just a wimp. He doesn't deserve you." She grinned at Castiel, seated across from Maya. "Date Cas instead," she said, "I'm sure he'll be ten times as chivalrous as Nathaniel."

Castiel gave her a glare and Maya sighed. "I want Nathaniel though," she said, "He's the one I love."

"I'm sorry, honey," Celeste said, "Why don't you try to win him over again?"

"How should I do that?" Maya muttered, "He doesn't pay enough attention to me to even notice that I'm trying to win him over. I could literally walk up to him in nothing but stockings and heels and he would hardly notice. That is, unless we were in public; then he would complain that I'm embarrassing him." She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Now that you mention it, I wish that I would've fallen for Castiel instead. I bet things would be a lot easier for me."

Castiel scowled at being forced into the conversation. "Instead of crying about it, why don't you buy him something… or something?"

"I'm not crying about it," she said, puffing her cheeks out even further, "and the only thing he let me buy him before was protection. He obviously doesn't need that now, considering he's hardly giving me anything at all."

"Buy him a calculator," Celeste muttered, "I bet he'd like that."

"No, seriously," Maya said, "I really have no idea what I should get him. I don't think he'd want clothes, I'm not buying him protection if he's not going to use it, and he gets mad at me when I buy him food… hmm…"

"I'm just going to tell myself that you'll break up with him before graduation," Celeste said, "Seriously, if this was a TV show, I would ship you and Castiel as a pairing."

This time Maya rolled her eyes. "I'm serious," she sighed.

"I agree with Celeste," Castiel said, before flushing a bright red, "I mean about the first part. I never liked him."

"You guys, stop telling me to break up with him," Maya said, "I'm not going to do that; not unless he does something really bad." Celeste sighed, returning to her lunch without another word on the matter.

After lunch, Celeste thanked Lysander again before walking to class with him. She hadn't realized how much taller than her he really was, since she normally wore high heels and today she wore flat boots. Her hand brushed his as she walked at his side and the touch suddenly gave her an idea; maybe if she could feel his face, she would know what she was doing wrong. As quickly as the thought sprung into mind, she pushed it away since she couldn't just walk up to him and ask to feel his face; he would wonder where her sanity had gone and she didn't want to ruin things since they were going on the right path so far. As they drew near her next class, she felt a bit unsettled, yearning for the walk to be longer.

"What's your next class?" she asked.

"History," he answered.

"Oh okay," she said. She wanted the conversation to last longer but that felt impossible since she couldn't think up a good enough conversation for him. The door to her classroom came all too soon and she waved goodbye.

"Wait," he said, to her surprise, "are you doing anything after school?"

"No," she said, her lips pinching up into a smile, "Why?"

"I was curious about your paintings that you told me about," he said, "Could you show me?"

"Yeah, sure," she said, "I'll meet you in the art room."

He gave her a smile and was on his way towards his class. Celeste turned and took her assigned seat. The second she sat down, she pulled out her sketchpad and began drawing. She drew a kitten, a tree, a pencil, anything she thought of to distract herself since she knew she wouldn't be able to focus for the rest of the day.

After school, Celeste studied her paintings, specifically pulling the one of Lysander from the group she planned to show him and hiding it in Miss Cunningham's stack of class paintings. The rest of them didn't show that she was intending for it to be about him, so she decided it was settled and began watching the clock, studying it's movements for about five minutes before deciding to paint to ease her anxiety at Lysander's being late. She set up the canvas on an easel and prepared regular paint on a pallet, a brush in her hand. She began painting the sky, giving precise details to the clouds. She had one half of the canvas filled when she decided to paint the other half as the night sky. She turned to glance up at the clock when she realized that Lysander was right beside her, watching her paint.

"Oh I didn't even notice you," she chuckled. She turned back to her painting, blending the darker blue and the lighter blue together before painting the night sky, leaving tiny spots where the stars would be.

"Is this just a leisure painting?" he asked curiously. She nodded.

"The others on the table are for the art gallery," she said, "This one I'm just doing for fun."

"You're very talented," he said. She grinned at his compliment as she finished up the painting, signing a cloud in very tiny writing before setting the painting on Miss Cunningham's desk. She turned to see him gazing at her other paintings that she had set out on the table.

"Do you like them?" she asked, "The art gallery owner hasn't seen all of them yet. The only person who has besides me and you now is Miss Cunningham."

"I do like them," he said, a small smile pinching up the corners of his lips, "They're very beautiful paintings."

Grinning, she said, "Thank you. I worked really hard on them."

"It shows," he said.

Celeste approached him and stood beside him, pointing at the paintings and listing off their names as he nodded each time to show he was listening.

After she had named them off, she turned to him. "Oh," she said, "I just remembered you didn't have a lunch. Do you want to go get something to eat?"

"Actually, I usually go eat with my brother at around this time," he said, "but you're more than welcome to join us, if you'd like."

She grinned. "That would be nice," she said, "I've never met your brother before. Oh, I have my car today so we don't have to walk."

He nodded and gestured her to lead the lead the way. She did so, leading the way out of the school and through the parking lot, to her car. She sat in the driver's seat and he in the passenger's seat.

"Okay so where are we going?" she asked.

"It's an apartment building," he said, "You just drive south down that street and its a few blocks away from the beach."

She nodded and pulled out of the parking lot, following his instructions towards his home. She drove into another parking lot for the apartment he'd instructed her to go to and let him lead the way up to his apartment. He opened the door and stood in the doorway, greeting someone.

"I brought a guest, if you don't mind," Lysander said.

"Who?" the voice inside said curiously.

Lysander stepped aside for Celeste to enter ahead of him and she gazed around. It was just a regular apartment. It was a bit small but if it was just these two living here, then it wouldn't be too cramped for them.

"Hi," she said to the boy, "I'm Celeste."

"Leigh," the boy said with a smile, "You're staying for dinner?"

"That was the plan," Celeste said. Leigh nodded and disappeared in the kitchen as she turned to Lysander to see him close the door. "Can I look around?" she asked curiously.

"If you'd like to," he said.

She gave him a smile and curiously poked her way around the apartment, careful not to look through anything. By the time she had finished, Leigh was finished with the food. Lysander led her into the kitchen, where Leigh had a dinner set up at the table. She sat in the available seat in between the two boys. With a smile, she slowly began to eat; the food was delightful.

"I don't know if it's because I haven't had a home cooked meal in a while or not, but this is really good," she said, "Who taught you how to cook?"

Leigh gave her a chuckle. "It was something I had to learn," he said, shrugging, "since Lysander and I would be living alone together, one of us has to cook, right?"

The rest of the meal was in silence as Celeste curiously wondered if every meal they had was this quiet or if it was just her. She finished her meal first and took her plate to the sink, waiting for the two boys to finish.

"That was a great meal," Celeste said, grinning, "Thank you both for having me, but I've been procrastinating my work a little too much now. I'll see you tomorrow, Lysander." She waved goodbye, which he returned.

"It was a pleasure," Leigh said.

"Bye, Leigh," she said before leaving.

As she climbed into her car, she took a few deep breaths as she realized she was making progress with him without even realizing it. What had she learned? That he has a brother named Leigh, they live alone together, he's chivalrous enough to give her his lunch and what else? Well it was progress anyway. She smiled to herself the whole drive home.


	4. FOUR: Time To Eat

It had been a few more days without much progress, but Celeste didn't mind as she liked spending time with Lysander. He was interesting and being around him made her feel as if she was a part of something special that only a very selective group could be a part of. Being around him was like looking at a painting of disarray and trying to figure out what it meant exactly. Celeste was walking home alone from school after spending some time in Miss Cunningham's room painting as she passed a shop. She slowed, the clicking of her heels, which was the only noise around her, ceasing to a complete silence as she peered in through the window. It was a clothes shop and it had such a variety of styles that she found herself pressing her nose and hands up against the glass, her heart thudding in her chest. She finally pulled herself away from it, her gaze landing on the door and she hurried inside like a hungry puppy looking for treats.

Once inside, Celeste gazed around, unsure of what she wanted to try on first. She began looking through everything, pulling hangers left and right until she found a sweater dress. Grinning, she lifted the hanger off of the clothes bar and took a step back to admire it when she ran into someone.

"Sorry," she mumbled when she turned before continuing cheerfully, "Oh, hi Leigh! Did you come across this store completely by accident too?"

He chuckled but shook his head. "I work here," he said.

"Oh, you do, huh?" she said, "You're so lucky, you get to be around all of these awesome clothes _all the time_!"

He chuckled again. "So you like clothes then," he concluded.

"It's my second favorite thing," she said, hugging the dress to her chest, "Oh, oh where are the dressing rooms?"

"In the back, over there," he said pointing.

"Thanks," she said quickly before following his directions. She tried on the dress and gazed at the mirror, pursing her lips, unsure. "Hmm," she said, opening the curtain, "Leigh, does this look okay?"

He weaved through the aisles until he finally came into view, studying her with a finger to his chin. "It fits you well," he said.

"Maybe," she said, looking herself up and down in the mirror, "but I feel like it needs something more." She thoughtfully gazed at her reflection before snapping her fingers. "I've got it!" she said before closing the curtain, "It needs stockings! And it's own pair of heels! And shorts! I'm a genius." She changed back into her clothes, folding the dress over her arm as she stepped out. "You won't be getting rid of me any time soon," she said to him with a wink.

She picked out tons of clothes and shoes and jewelry until she couldn't carry anymore, putting all of the prices on her credit card, promising Leigh she'd be back before hurrying off to go try on all her new clothes in different outfits. Afterwards, she added a new painting to her theme, allowing herself to admire it before doing her homework and bathing before going off to bed.

The next morning, Celeste was clad in a city designed short dress and heels on her feet. She fixed her hair up in a ponytail and did her makeup the way she usually did it to make her eyes pop. She pulled on a leather jacket to finish the outfit before going off to school. There were only a few more days until the viewing of her gallery theme but thankfully, she was almost finished with it. She arrived to see Maya just arriving as well, laughing as she walked alongside Castiel; it was the first time in weeks that Celeste had seen Maya have such a carefree smile on her face.

"Celeste," Maya said cheerfully, hurrying over towards her.

"Hey, gorgeous," Celeste said with a grin, "and you brought your red-haired puppy too!"

Maya smiled and Castiel gave Celeste a cold glare but didn't walk away. "How is the painting coming along?" Maya asked.

"Great," Celeste answered, "I'm almost done. Hey, did you ever notice that clothes shop down the street from here?"

Maya nodded. "I go there all the time," she said, "The guy who works there is so _cute_!"

Celeste laughed. "Did you know that that's Lysander's brother?" she said.

"Oh," Maya said, her cheeks turning a pink tint, "I didn't know that. Don't tell him I said that."

"I won't," Celeste said, giggling, "He is pretty cute, though. So I just discovered that shop yesterday and I couldn't stop buying things. I had trouble carrying everything home."

"Really?" Maya laughed, "You shop too much."

"I can't help it, I love clothes," she said.

"Do we have to talk about this?" Castiel sighed.

"No, but you don't _have_ to stand there either," Celeste said with a roll of her eyes.

"I can do what I want," Castiel said, scowling at her.

"Okay," Celeste said, "when you get bored of the conversation, feel free to walk away because nobody is stopping you."

Rolling his eyes, Castiel sauntered away with his arms crossed.

"You're too mean to him," Maya laughed, "I think you hurt his feelings."

Celeste shrugged. "He doesn't need that attitude around us if we're his friends," she muttered, "I don't know how Lysander puts up with him."

"He has his moments," Maya said and her smile suddenly faded as she gazed around, "Have you seen Nathaniel around?"

"No," Celeste said, shaking her head, "he's probably in the student council room."

"Okay, I'm gonna go find him," Maya said, balling her hands into fists.

"Okay," Celeste said, "just don't go in there if there's a sock on the door knob." Maya didn't seem to hear as she hurried off in the direction of the school, leaving her alone.

Celeste turned and the first thing she could see was Castiel sitting with Lysander in the courtyard. She ambled towards them, clenching a strap of her bag as she suddenly felt nervous. Why did she feel nervous? Nobody made her feel nervous but gazing at the two of them made her squeeze the strap of her bag until her knuckles faded white. She approached them slowly, listening to the clicking of her heels to distract her until she was near enough to hear their conversation. She continued approaching, brushing off the fact that they were discussing music… or something.

"This song is about a girl," Castiel realized as he read off of Lysander's notebook.

Celeste's feet slowed to a stop; it was wrong to eavesdrop but they hadn't noticed her and she was feeling a pinch of jealousy. Lysander nodded, gazing at his own notebook in Castiel's hands. "I haven't been able to think about much else lately."

Castiel's eyes widened for a moment and he pointed at something in the notebook. "Is this about who I think it's about?" He met Lysander's gaze before cracking a smile. "_Her_? She might be pretty but her personality is a deal breaker."

Lysander looked away. "I disagree. I like her personality."

Celeste bit her lip, deciding she didn't want to hear anymore as she spun around on her heels and slowly approached the building. She felt a bit disappointed that there was someone he wanted despite the fact that she'd been the one spending time with him. Her ego had managed to fool her into thinking that he would fall for her like boys always did but she should've known, considering he wasn't like any other boy she knew. She could have any other boy wrapped around her finger with just a smile in his direction but it didn't feel that way with him. She subtly shook her head as she pushed open the doors and quickened her pace towards the art room; she couldn't become distracted with petty things such as boy troubles when she had a theme to perfect before Tuesday.

Celeste awoke with a jolt at the sound of a book being slammed on to her desk and she sat up, gazing up at Mister Faraize whose brow was furrowed. He lifted the text book off of her desk. "Now that we're all _awake,_ I'll pass out your homework assignment."

The class gave a collective groan to which Faraize ignored, passing out the worksheet. Celeste sighed deeply, putting it in her folder when she felt Maya touch her shoulder from beside her. "Are you okay, Celeste?" she asked, "You never fall asleep in class."

Celeste nodded, her gaze finding Lysander's across the room, meeting her's with a look of curiosity on his face. "I'm fine. I just had a late night, that's all."

Maya gave her a smile. "When is the gallery opening?"

Celeste returned her smile. "It's tomorrow. I get to miss school for it."

Maya put her hands together in excitement. "I can't wait! I haven't seen a single one of the paintings you're putting in so I'm really excited."

Celeste nodded as the bell rang. "I'm pretty confident in them. I think you'll like them."

Maya followed Celeste closely. "I'm sure I will. You're good at everything artistic."

Celeste beamed at Maya's compliment. "Thank you!" She waved at Maya as they turned in opposite directions and she only managed to take a few steps when she felt a hand take her wrist gently.

"Celeste," Lysander's voice reached her and she turned, meeting his gaze. "The gallery opening is tomorrow?" She nodded. "Are you okay? You don't look so good."

Celeste nodded. "Like I said, it was a late night."

He gazed at her skeptically. "When was the last time you ate?"

Celeste froze, realizing that she hadn't eaten since Saturday; it was Monday. She managed to give him a smile. "I told you, I'm fine. I appreciate your concern."

His skepticism didn't leave his face and he touched her shoulder as she prepared to turn. "Let's go out tonight."

Celeste brightened up. "Go out?"

He nodded. "Let's go grab some dinner to celebrate for tomorrow."

A smile spread from ear to ear on her face. "I'd love that," she answered, "but, unfortunately, I still have some work to do. Maybe the day after tomorrow if you don't mind."

He nodded again, releasing her arm and she turned away again, going to her next class.

It was the day of the opening and Celeste hadn't had time to eat yet but she had managed to put on enough make up to cover up that fact, and her sleep deprivation. She wasn't expecting Lysander, however, because she hadn't told him where the gallery was and she had done that intentionally; she didn't want him seeing the painting she'd done of him.

The gallery opening had just begun and Celeste had to stand by and speak to everyone about her paintings as they observed. She began feeling a bit lightheaded as they bombarded her with questions, occasionally forgetting to answer when people asked and it made her appear to be more absentminded than she was. Her gaze wandered through the crowd, searching for Maya to come to her rescue but instead her gaze landed on the back of a silver haired head, gazing up at the painting she'd done of him. At the sight of him seeing what she'd done, the voices suddenly stopped and her eyes grew wide. "Lysander," she managed to say before everything suddenly went black.

Celeste's eyes fluttered open and she found herself gazing at Maya's big green orbs of eyes, full of tears and worry as she held on to Celeste's hand as if for dear life. "Celeste," Maya gasped, throwing her arms over her, "are you okay? What happened?"

Celeste rubbed her eyes. "Where am I?" her voice cracked as she spoke before she realized it was her own bedroom, "I should be asking you what happened."

Maya sat up, wiping the tears from her eyes. "People were asking you questions and then you just suddenly stopped talking like you'd seen a ghost or something and you said Lysander's name then you just passed out. Celeste, have you been eating?" Celeste looked away, avoiding her question. "You do realize that food is a basic daily need for human beings, right?"

Celeste sighed, rolling her eyes. "I know but things just got so busy that it kept slipping my mind. Was Lysander really there or were my eyes playing tricks on me?"

Maya opened her mouth but another familiar voice from behind Celeste as the window interrupted, "Did you purposely not invite me? Were you afraid of me seeing your painting?"

Celeste turned to see Lysander leaning against the window. "I just... wasn't sure how you'd feel knowing I painted you." She gazed down at her hands. "I'm sorry I didn't invite you. I wanted to but I guess I was just spreading myself a little bit too thin and things started getting to me. I wasn't... doing well."

He cracked a smile. "It was a lovely painting. I don't understand how you would be afraid of my reaction." He approached and sat beside her on the bed. "And I know that you weren't doing well, that's why I wanted to help you but I wasn't sure how to go about it."

Celeste smiled to herself, gazing at him. "You really liked the painting?"

He nodded. "I like all of your paintings but I think that one is my favorite."

"Oh," Maya interrupted, reaching into her bag behind her and she pulled out an envelope, handing it to Celeste, "the gallery owner told me to give you this while we carried you out."

Celeste gazed at before tearing open the top and finding a check inside—a big one at that. "I almost forgot that they would pay me."

"That's a big check," Maya gasped as if reading Celeste's mind.

Celeste nodded. "I think the gallery owner was being a little generous because I passed out."

Maya grinned. "Hey, money is money, right? Anyway, I gotta go. Nathaniel wants to meet up."

Celeste felt a lump in her throat thinking of Maya and Nathaniel together but she simply nodded, watching Maya leave before lying back against the pillow, putting her hand across her forehead. "Am I a bad person?"

Lysander laid his head beside hers, entwining his hands together over his chest. "I don't think you are. Why do you ask?"

Celeste chewed on her lip. "If I tell you a secret, do you promise not to tell anyone?" She felt him nod without looking at him. "I caught Nathaniel with Melody. They were in a really heavy make out in the student council room."

Lysander turned his head to gaze at her. "Why don't you tell Maya?"

Celeste sighed. "I yelled at Nathaniel but he said he was working on it or whatever and he made me promise not to tell."

"You don't seem like the type to submit to someone like Nathaniel," Lysander pointed out.

She shook her head quickly. "Of course not. In any other circumstance, I'd run to go tell Maya but... I don't know... Just seeing how much she loves him, I know it would just tear her apart to hear about that. She's the type who would beat herself up for something like that and I don't want to see her have to go through it."

Lysander turned so he was facing the ceiling again. "Not telling her won't make it go away."

Celeste continued chewing on her lip. "I know but I just don't want to be the one to tell her. I know, it's selfish but I wish I didn't have to be the one who is burdened by this when it's Nathaniel's mistake while he's out having the time of his life juggling girls. He's absolute trash."


	5. FIVE: What is this, a romance novel?

Celeste tapped her fingers on her desk, her gaze wandering to the clock. It was the last class of the day and she wanted to get out and see Lysander again; he had asked her to meet him after school. She smiled to herself as the clock hit the last minute before the bell when the teacher noticed her expression.

"Celeste, you seem quite interested," she pointed out, "Why don't you come up and solve for X for the class?"

Celeste had to restrain from rolling her eyes as she forced herself to her feet, giving the teacher a slight smile and she approached the board, clenching the dry erase marker between her finger and thumb, holding it to the board. Solving for X usually came easily to her but she didn't understand it when it came to adding or subtracting rational equations in fractions. "Okay," she took a deep breath, "X squared minus twenty-five can be factored into X plus five times X minus five..."

She was interrupted by the bell and spun around to get her bag when the teacher stood in her way. "Ah-ah, Celeste, you haven't solved for X."

This time Celeste did roll her eyes, returning to the board and continuing the equation until she got an answer but by then the classroom was empty except for the teacher, sitting at her desk. Celeste hurried to get her bag and she pushed through the crowds of loitering students filling the halls until she reached the main entrance, pushing the doors open to find Lysander leaning against a railing along the stairs. She smiled to herself, slowing as she approached him and she tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey," she greeted when he turned.

He smiled. "Hello," he answered, "There's a diner just down the street from here."

Celeste nodded, unable to repress her smile. "Let's go then."

They began to walk and eventually, all the chattering of the students around them had vanished and the only noise was the passing of cars and the clicking of Celeste's heels. "Remember when you and Maya came to listen to me and Castiel playing?" Celeste nodded, avoiding his gaze as she recalled the day they'd met and the day they'd all gotten so drunk that Celeste didn't remember much besides for the taste of the alcohol on Lysander's lips and the way his hands felt on her waist. She also couldn't recall what had happened between being in the basement of the school and waking up in the morning, but she had awakened that morning only half dressed with Lysander in her bed. She was sure they hadn't done anything but it still embarrassed her to think about. "Would you like to come and listen again after we eat? Castiel wants to meet around four."

Celeste nodded again, giving him another smile. "I would like that as long as there's no alcohol involved."

He returned her smile. "That time was a bit of a mess."

Celeste chuckled. "That's the understatement of the year." He gave a cute chuckle and her hands tingled with the urge to hold his but she resisted. They arrived at the diner and they found a booth by a window, sitting facing each other and gazing at the menus. "Have you ever been here before?"

He nodded. "I used to come here a lot earlier in the year. Any kind of pasta is good."

Celeste touched her chin, gazing at the menu. "The winter vegetable one sounds good. I think I'll get that one."

After eating, the two of them returned to the now empty school and they went down to the basement, where they found Castiel crumbling up a bag of chips and wiping crumbs off his lips. His gaze went from Lysander to Celeste and back again and Lysander flipped open his notebook to a page, handing it to Castiel.

"You want to play this?" Castiel asked him, raising his brow and Lysander nodded without a word.

Castiel didn't complain as they prepared their instruments and Lysander brought a microphone to his lips. He nodded and Castiel began to play, the sound of his guitar filling the room and vibrating the floors. Lysander licked his lips, closing his eyes as he began to sing. _"We met on the craziest of circumstances but somehow I lost my balance; nowadays my breath still gets caught when I see you and I'm wondering what it means to you."_

Celeste was quickly hit with the realization that this must be the love song he'd showed to Castiel when she accidentally eavesdropped. It was an incredible song so far and Lysander's voice and Castiel's guitar came together beautifully.

"_Every time I see that twinkle in your beautiful eyes, you make me realize; I think I'm meant to be with someone like you."_ Celeste smiled, closing her eyes at the sound of Lysander's voice saying all these beautiful things, finding herself wishing he was singing about her. "_I want to know what your waist feels like folded into my arms; my face buried in your cherry red hair, take me to Mars." _Celeste stiffened, opening her eyes and gazing down at herself to see her bright cherry red hair falling in elegant curls down to her waist. Maybe the song _was_ about her. She found various things throughout the song that she could apply to herself, such as the mention of her art and stiletto heels.

Afterwards, Lysander took a deep breath before opening his eyes and Celeste grinned at him, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger. "The girl in that song sounds familiar."

Lysander gave her a smile. "I should hope so."

Celeste continued smiling at him before realizing Castiel was still standing behind him and she eyed him, furrowing her brow. "What are you still doing here? We're trying to have a moment."

Castiel shrugged, sitting against the wall as he drank from a bottle of water. "Don't mind me."

Celeste rolled her eyes at him before approaching Lysander and taking his wrists. "It's a bit crowded," she muttered, jerking her head in Castiel's direction, "so we should hang out some other time. You have my number." She leaned forward and gave his cheek a peck, pleased with his blush. "Thank you for the song."

She released his hands, holding his gaze a moment before turning away, leaving the school, her pace gradually increasing. She jumped into her car, buckling in and starting it, grasping the wheel and bursting into a fit of giggles. She leaned her head against the top of the wheel, between her hands, shaking her head but unable to shake the smile.

"He likes me," she told herself, grinning, "He really likes _me_." She turned up the radio and began driving home, wishing she could listen to Lysander's song instead.

Celeste gazed at herself in the mirror, smoothing out the bright red lipstick on her lips to match her hair before crunching up the roots of her hair and leaning back, giving herself a smile as she nervously fingered the bold gold necklace over her chest. She wore a very light, translucent button-down black shirt over an opaque black tank top all tucked into a long bright red skirt that went up to her waist and down to her ankles in the back and her knees in the front. She had on black pumps on her feet, which only held her feet in with crossing straps from her toes to her ankles.

Celeste wasn't sure why she felt nervous; her hair was straight and her makeup was perfect and she knew she looked great. That wasn't what worried her; what worried her was the thought of trying to converse with Lysander after a perfect day like yesterday. On a normal occasion, trying to start a decent conversation with him was like trying to count grains of sand, but when they could manage to have a conversation, it felt so easy and natural and lifting.

She took a deep breath, gathering her bag and school necessities and her car keys before hurrying outside, the excitement of seeing Lysander bubbling up inside her. She had to restrain from speeding until she pulled into the school's parking lot, locking her car and making her way to the front, where most kids waited for it to begin. Gazing around, she couldn't seem to find Lysander so instead she sat in one of the open benches, playing with her phone until Maya plopped down beside her.

"Hey, Celeste," she gave her a smile, "where were you yesterday? I texted you like a billion times."

Celeste returned her smile, gazing around to make sure Lysander wasn't around before speaking. "I was freaking out all day."

Maya's eyes widened. "There's something in this world that can make Celeste Bellerose freak out?"

Celeste nodded, giving her an innocent look. "I was with Lysander after school. I never told you this but I actually have a huge crush on him." Maya's eyes widened again. "Yeah, sorry I kept it a secret so long. Anyway, so he wrote a love song about me."

Maya's eyes widened even further. "He wrote a _love song_? That is precious! Did you propose yet?"

Celeste laughed. "Castiel was there; they performed it just for me. So afterwards, I kissed his cheek and told him thanks because I didn't want to do or say anything intimate with Castiel around." She rolled her eyes. "He's such a freak."

Maya laughed. "Hey, he's alright. Anyway, I'm happy for you. You two are both weird in your own ways but you complement each other."

Celeste smiled at the thought before taking a deep breath. "So on the topic of love lives, how are you and Nathaniel doing?"

Maya sighed, shrugging. "I don't know. Sometimes it's like he's so in love that nothing could ever come between us but then other times he treats me like I'm a stranger. It's not like him to give me mixed signals like this. I'm worried that maybe he still doesn't trust me after I lied to him about drinking at that last party we had."

Celeste furrowed her brow. "That party was so much fun but I think every single one of us regrets it in some way. Maybe not all the freaks who were passed out all over my house."

Maya rolled her eyes. "If there was something I wish I could take back, it would be that. I just wish he would be straight with me if he's upset."

Celeste gazed down at her lap, careful not to bite into her red lips before taking another deep breath. "Maya... there's something you should know..."

"Celeste," a voice interrupted her from behind and she felt immediate comfort at his voice, turning and giving Lysander a warm smile.

Maya grinned at them, getting to her feet. "I'm gonna go find Castiel. See you guys later." She rushed away so quickly she practically vanished into thin air, giving Lysander room to sit beside Celeste, and that he did.

Celeste laughed at his expression. "You look exhausted."

He smiled sheepishly, looking away. "I still don't like mornings."

Celeste continued to smile, reaching up and fixing his hair. "There, see? Much better. I could come by and wake you up at six, if you want." Lysander furrowed his brow, giving her a 'that's not gonna happen' look and she laughed. "It's really nice out today," she pointed out, leaning back, "I hope it stays like this."

"Let's go somewhere after school," he suggested.

Celeste nodded, giving him a smile. "That would be nice. Did you have anything in mind?"

Lysander shrugged. "I don't mind what we do. If the weather changes, we could see a movie."

Celeste tapped her chin. "Yeah, we could do that. We could grab something to eat ahead of time. But if the weather is nice, I'm not going to want to stay inside so if it doesn't change, let's go to the beach."

He gazed at her curiously. "It's not hot enough to go swimming."

She smiled. "We don't have to _swim_; it would just be nice to go."

He nodded. "I guess so. We could picnic." Celeste laughed. "What's so funny?"

She shrugged, shaking her head. "A picnic on the beach? What is this, a romance novel?"

Lysander smiled. "I just want to make sure you're eating."

Celeste blushed, looking away. "I appreciate it, really, but I promise I am. The only time I forget is when I get stressed out. I have nothing to be stressed over." She met his gaze, giving him a smile. "As a matter of fact, I'm pretty happy these days."

He returned her smile. "I'm glad to hear that."

She grinned. "I guess we could picnic if you want to."

The bell rang throughout the school's yard and they both got to their feet, beginning to approach to doors of the school.

"Oh, man, I can't wait to graduate," Celeste sighed, "I'm tired of wasting my whole day here." She hooked her arm into his to keep from getting separated in the crowd of all the other kids waiting to get inside. "I'm tired of all the underclassmen boys trying to flirt with me. It's ridiculous."

Lysander tucked his hands into his pockets. "I'm tired of that too."

Celeste laughed as they made their way inside.

After school, Celeste sat at the end of the railing by the school entrance as all the leaving students passed, waiting for Lysander. She tapped her fingers against the concrete stairs, taking a deep breath and scanning the crowd when suddenly someone bumped into her legs. She looked up to see a sophomore boy with long blonde hair and skinny jeans, skater boy shoes on his feet. She furrowed her brow at him and he grinned.

"Sorry about that, baby. Why don't you let me make it up to you?"

Celeste's brow rose. "In your dreams, kid. I don't mess with underage boys."

He furrowed his brow, taking a step towards her. "Hey, I'm mature for my age. You can come over to my place and I'll make you feel really good."

Celeste laughed, shaking her head. "Oh yeah, all sixteen year old boys are good in bed, huh? Why don't you scram? I'm really not interested and I'm way too good for you." He came closer and she lifted a heeled foot. "Don't come any closer to me or you will lose a limb."

His eyes began wandering as she forgot what kind of view he'd have with her leg up in a skirt. "That's a nice view."

He touched her leg and she gave him a hard kick, her heel landing on his upper thigh, just near the spot that would hurt him the most. "Aw, man," she chuckled as he fell to the floor, "I missed."

"Hey," she heard a yell and the sound of clicking heels and she turned to see an angry teacher, "you! Come with me."

Celeste got to her feet, crossing her arms. "I'm really getting in trouble for that? You didn't approach when he was grabbing at my leg."

"We have a zero tolerance policy for bullying," the teacher said, leading her inside the building.

Celeste rolled her eyes. "Bullying is bad but sexual harassment isn't?" The teacher said nothing and Celeste's gaze found Lysander passing in the opposite direction, a puzzled expression on his face. "I'll be out soon, okay? I'll explain later."

She led her into the principal's office, where the teacher explained what Celeste had done to the boy. The principal nodded, turning her gaze to Celeste. "What's your name?" she asked as the teacher left the room.

"Celeste Bellerose," she told her.

"Have a seat, Miss Bellerose." Celeste sat down across from the principal. "Why did you kick that boy?"

Celeste crossed her arms again, leaning back. "What that teacher neglected to tell you was that he was grabbing my leg when I kicked him. I was defending myself and I had every right to."

The principal shook her head, writing something down. "You're a senior, correct?" Celeste nodded. "Well, we have a zero tolerance policy for fighting and bullying. While he will certainly be serving a detention, I still have to punish you for turning to violence to solve your problems."

Celeste furrowed her brow as the principal handed her a slip and her eyes widened when she realized it was a suspension slip.


	6. SIX: I'm a bully

Celeste approached the doors of the school slowly, gazing at the pink paper in her hands, suspension written in bold letters across the top. She sighed, pushing open the doors to the school to find Lysander waiting for her outside.

"What happened?" he asked her and she handed him the slip. "Bullying? Since when are you a bully?"

Celeste crossed her arms, rolling her eyes. "Some kid was grabbing at my leg so I kicked him. Get this, he only got a detention for that and I'm getting suspended, starting tomorrow."

Lysander furrowed his brow. "That's ridiculous; you were just defending yourself. A suspension of three whole days is a major fault in the school's system."

"I know," she muttered, "Let's just go. I'll just get angrier if we stay around here much longer."

Celeste led the way to her car, climbing into the driver's seat and starting it as he got into the passenger's seat. "Where do you want to go?" he asked, his voice soft as if afraid of angering her.

She sighed, turning down the music from the radio. "I don't know. I kind of just want to go home. Would you mind coming over?"

He shook his head. "No, we could do that."

Celeste took a deep breath, beginning to drive. "I'm sorry for ruining your day like this. I just don't really think I'm in the mood to go out anywhere."

He shook his head again. "You didn't ruin my day, Celeste. I was never set on doing anything in particular; I just wanted to spend time with you."

She gave him a smile. "Hey, we could watch any pay-per-view movie or something online. And I have tons of food at home."

Lysander returned her smile, visibly relieved that she didn't seem angry anymore. The drive home was quiet but Celeste found herself relaxing in Lysander's presence until she pulled into her driveway and led the way inside.

"Make yourself at home," she told him kindly, "I'm just gonna go change into something more comfortable." He nodded and took a seat on her couch as she hurried upstairs to her bedroom. She groaned with pleasure as she kicked off her heels, plopping down on the edge of her bed and throwing her hair up into a pony tail. She sat for a minute, embracing the fact that she was at home instead of school before forcing herself to her feet and changing into some short pajama shorts and a t-shirt and proceeding to wipe off all her makeup in front of the mirror. She tossed her bag aside, only retrieving her cell phone before returning downstairs to find Lysander flipping through the pay-per-view channels and she leaned over the armrest beside him, crossing her arms over it. "Is there anything in particular you want to watch?"

He shook his head. "I don't mind what we watch. What about you? Is there anything you want to watch?"

Celeste shrugged. "I'm in the mood for something mysterious. Not like a police mystery but like a people mystery, you know? Like _'And Then There Were None'_."

He lifted his gaze to her. "You liked that book?" She nodded. "I liked that book a lot too."

She gave him a smile. "Hey, what about that movie? That sounds interesting." He got the movie and started it, putting it on pause. "Let's go put some snacks together." She pulled him to his feet before leading him to the kitchen and she tapped her chin. "Hm... let's see..." She pulled a bag of chips from the cupboard before opening the freezer. "What about some microwavable chicken nuggets? These ones are really good." She spun around, grinning. "I want to eat everything."

To her surprise, Lysander gave her a smile. "No one is stopping you."

Celeste giggled, grasping the chicken nuggets and some chicken fries and he put drinks and helped her put them into plates and bowls and microwave the frozen foods. Once everything was ready, they returned to the living room to watch the movie.

It was about halfway through the movie when Celeste was beginning to feel hungry again, reaching for the chips when her hand bumped Lysander's. She was going to laugh at the level of cliché of the moment but when she met his gaze, he didn't seem to agree, gazing at her with such an affectionate look that she felt a bit dizzy. She leaned towards him and he did the same and her heart began to race, watching his gaze shift back and forth from her eyes and lips and he tilted his head a bit, convincing her he was going for a kiss. Just when her heart began racing so quickly she thought it might jump out of her chest, the doorbell sounded and she groaned, her head dropping.

"Perfect timing," she muttered sarcastically before getting to her feet and approaching the door, pulling it open. A woman stood there, her arms crossed, and it was only then that Celeste realized it was pouring rain outside and she gasped. "Oh, it's awful out there." She stepped aside. "Come on in."

The woman gave her a smile. "Thanks a lot," she stepped inside. "I was actually going to ask if you had any extra room for a while until this storm blows over. I hope it's no trouble for you; It's a mess out there."

Celeste closed the door, eyeing the woman as she took off her shoes. "It's fine, I live alone. Do you live in Sweet Amoris?"

The woman shook her head. "No, I don't live anywhere near here. I was driving through; I went to go visit my sister and I was driving back. There's a huge storm and all the news stations were saying to stay inside."

Celeste gave her a smile. "Then you can stay here until it ends, I don't mind. What's your name?"

The woman removed her coat and hung it up on the coat rack. "I'm Elizabeth, but you can call me Liz if you want. What's yours?"

"I'm Celeste," she announced, "and that's Lysander."

She waved at Lysander. "Sorry if I was interrupting anything. I'm hoping this storm doesn't last too long. Are you a student?"

Celeste nodded. "I'm still in high school but it's my last semester. I'm assuming you're not, since you have time to visit your sister, right?"

Liz smiled. "I'm actually in my first year of college. It's your last semester, huh? Congrats on making it this far."

"Thanks," Celeste giggled, "Hey, do you want me to give you a change of clothes? Those ones look uncomfortable."

"That would be great," Liz answered with a smile.

Celeste led her upstairs and gave her a change of clothes, showing her to a spare room, before returning downstairs to find Lysander with a hesitant expression on his face. "What's wrong?" she asked him.

"Are you sure you should let her stay with you? I mean she's a complete stranger."

Celeste gave him a smile, taking a seat beside him. "I think it'll be fine; she seems nice enough."

Lysander didn't seem convinced, tapping his fingers on the armrest. "I don't know... I also don't know how I'm going to go home in this weather."

"I could drive you," she suggested before peeking outside, "... _or_ the streets are flooding. I'll bolt the doors before I let you walk so I don't mind you staying here."

He gave her a smile. "Where should I sleep?"

She shrugged. "Anywhere you want," she answered.

The storm slowed a bit after one day, but the streets remained flooded and all of them were closed off. They didn't cancel school, however; the city was so small that walking couldn't be a problem from any part of the city. Not that it mattered to Celeste, however, since she was suspended. She awoke in the morning just as Lysander was leaving and she said goodbye to him and lied down on the couch where it was still warm from him sleeping on it. She gazed up at the ceiling, sighing; not too long ago, she was so busy that she didn't have time to eat even, but now she had no idea what to do. Suddenly, an idea hit her and she pulled out a sketch pad from the table beside her and a pencil off the top, gazing at the blank sheet of paper. Maybe now she'd know Lysander enough to draw him; she had forgotten about it until now. Taking a deep breath, she began to create an image on the paper, her heart pounding with hope. It felt strange to feel this way, considering drawing was what she did best and she never felt nervous drawing.

Celeste's heart began to clench as she finished up the drawing and lifting it up into the light. She gave a groan at the sight and tore out the page, crumbling it up before lying back down on the couch.

"What's this?" a voice startled her and she'd almost forgotten about Liz, until she watched her unfold the crumbled up paper. "Oh, this is that boy, isn't it?" Celeste nodding, sitting up as Liz sat down near her. "This is amazing."

Celeste sighed. "You don't see anything wrong with it?"

Liz shook her head. "No, not a thing. It's him to a T."

"I don't feel like it is," Celeste mumbled, "I feel like there's something missing."

Liz lifted her gaze to Celeste. "Are you two dating?"

Celeste gave her a smile, shaking her head. "We're a little more than friends but we're not dating just yet. We have that flirtationship thing going on."

Liz giggled. "Oh, I understand. You really like him then, huh?"

Celeste nodded, gazing at her hands; she hadn't exactly considered how she truly felt towards him, only how he felt towards her. "I guess I do. But I don't know... I won't really feel satisfied until I figure out how to draw him properly."

Liz gave Celeste a playful glare. "You aren't dating the boy that you like and your biggest concern is drawing him?"

Celeste smiled at the humor in the situation. "Well, I'm not really worried about anything else. I know he likes me too and I know how to approach him; he's not the first guy I've liked."

"I'm not surprised; you're pretty enough that you probably have every straight boy wrapped around your finger."

Celeste giggled. "Thank you, and I do have every straight boy wrapped around my finger." Liz laughed and Celeste clenched her hands, gazing at her sketch pad. "I just don't know why I can't get the picture right. It's so frustrating to me."

"I think it looks fine," Liz shrugged, "but if it's bothering you, practice makes perfect then, right?"

Celeste tilted her head to one side. "I guess so."

"Hey," Liz gazed at her curiously, "I thought you're a student. Don't you have school today?"

Celeste chuckled, shaking her head. "They suspended me for kicking some sophomore boy with a heel. He was grabbing at my leg; what was I supposed to do, just let him?"

Liz overdramatically rolled her eyes. "School rules these days are such a joke. Did he get in trouble?"

Celeste leaned back against the couch. "He only got a detention."

Liz groaned with exasperation. "That's incredible," she muttered sarcastically. Suddenly she sat up. "Hey are you hungry? I'm starved. Where is somewhere we can go out to eat around here?"

Over the course of her suspension, Celeste and Liz had bonded and by the time she returned to school, the roads were still flooded, not only in Sweet Amoris, but in all the surrounding cities as well and the rain was on and off. She had to walk to school in her heels but it wasn't a problem for her since the sidewalks weren't muddy and when she arrived at school, the faculty had hoarded all the students inside. She climbed the stairs and pushed open the doors, gazing around at all the students who all seemed to be gazing at her and she furrowed her brow, walking more slowly.

Suddenly she found Maya, who was rushing over from down the hall and she grasped her hand, leading her to a quiet, empty classroom. "Celeste," she turned to face her, "what happened? Why did you get suspended?"

Celeste still had her brow furrowed. "I kicked a boy," she answered, "He was making unwanted sexual advances and he laid his hands on me."

Maya put her face in her hands. "Oh, thank god it's not true. I should have known you would never do something so gross."

Celeste crossed her arms. "Maya, what's going on?"

Maya's hands dropped. "I guess the loser that you kicked started a rumor. He said you two were alone outside the school and you started flirting with him and trying to kiss him and stuff."

Celeste rolled her eyes. "_'And stuff'_ even? That's ridiculous, like I'd ever even go near that low-life dirtbag." She took a deep breath to calm herself down. "Okay, it doesn't matter. I know it didn't happen and there's only a few months left until graduation. I'm not going to spend my senior year fretting over some little boy who thinks he's cool."

Maya smiled. "I figured you wouldn't let it get to you."

The beginning half of the day dragged on, of course, with Celeste dealing with all the underclassmen giving her funny looks that she tried to ignore. She felt relieved, walking into the art room, where she felt most at home when she was at school and this time Miss Cunningham had given them a theme to go by while painting and Celeste let herself get lost in the painting. She loved the feeling of making art and pouring all her emotions and thoughts and aspirations into a picture, despite the theme of it being assigned for her, it still felt good. Once she finished, she stood back to admire it, Miss Cunningham over her shoulder.

"That's beautiful, kitten," she gushed, "It's a shame that you didn't want to take up that offer. The gallery owner really wanted you."

Celeste turned towards her, her brow furrowed. "What offer? What gallery owner?"

Miss Cunningham's brow went up. "The first day you were out, Lysander came by to ask if there were any assignments for you for homework. He was getting your work to you, right?" Celeste nodded. "I told him to tell you about another gallery that saw your work and was really interested in you and the next day he told me you weren't interested."

Celeste crossed her arms. "So Lysander told you that I wasn't interested? He never told me about any gallery offers."

"I guess maybe I should have gone with my instinct and told Maya instead."

"Yeah," Celeste sighed, "I thought he'd be reliable but maybe next time you should go with Maya."

When the bell rang, Celeste gathered her bag and approached the outdoor cafeteria without bothering to look at the lunch menu; she wouldn't like the lunch anyway. Her gaze found Lysander seated alone at a table in the back and she approached, sitting across from him. "Hey, Lysander," she greeted without a smile or any enthusiasm.

He lifted his gaze to her. "What's wrong?"

"Why did you tell Miss Cunningham I wasn't interested in that gallery offer?" she asked without hesitation.

He blinked a few times as if her question was unexpected. "I didn't think it'd be good for you."

She leaned forward, eyeing him. "_You_ didn't think it'd be good for _me_?" He nodded. "Since when are you at liberty to make decisions like that for me?"

He sighed, looking away. "Because I knew you would want to do it but I didn't want to see you go through all that all over again. You'll get another offer."

"You don't know that," she answered, "What if I never get another offer again? Don't make decisions for me without consulting me first. It's _my_ life."

He reached into his bag and retrieved a paper bag, handing it to her before getting to his feet. "I'm not in much of a mood for arguing."

Celeste opened the bag as he walked away to find a lunch packed just for her and she sighed, turning and watching him disappear into the school, an awful feeling in her gut.


	7. SEVEN: Hello, Hola, Bonjour, Salaam

Celeste dragged her feet out of her last class on the way outside, wishing that she could drive home instead of walk. She still felt awful about saying what she had to Lysander at lunch but she hadn't seen him since then; their only mutual class was the first one. She ignored all the whispering underclassmen as she scanned the crowd of leaving students until her gaze caught that familiar head of silver hair and she rushed over, grasping his wrist. He turned his gaze to her and the first thing she noticed was that he wasn't looking at her with the same expression he usually did.

"Lysander," her voice was quiet but managed to break through the chattering of all the people around her, "can we talk?"

He didn't completely turn around, withdrawing his wrist and looking away. "Sorry," he sighed, "I have to be somewhere."

Celeste felt some sort of hurt inside, watching him walk away but it was replaced with anger and she marched towards him, taking his wrist again and forcing him to face her. "You have no right to be angry with me," she insisted, "I didn't do anything wrong. _You_ were the one going around making decisions for me and deciding what's good for me and what isn't good for me. _You_ were the one who got up and walked away at lunch instead of just confronting me and apologizing. I don't like the fact that you're turning this situation around and making me the bad guy when I didn't do anything but I'm willing to put this behind me and I even wanted to _apologize_ to you for _defending myself_. You should just let go of your ego and accept my kindness."

To her surprise, he broke his serious expression with a smile. "Celeste," he chuckled, "I mean I really have to be somewhere. My brother has to run some errands and he wants me to watch the shop for him and I have to be there in twenty minutes. I wasn't trying to avoid you."

Celeste realized that she had gotten on her toes to be eye-level with him and she let her feet fall back on her heels, feeling taken aback. "Oh."

He held out his hand to her and she took it, letting him lead her outside. "I was going to apologize," he told her, "I don't like it when you're angry with me." Celeste felt relief come over her at his words and the feel of his hand in hers. He walked with her until they reached the sidewalk, where they would have to walk in opposite directions and he turned to face her, releasing her hand. "I'm sorry," he sincerely told her.

Celeste gave him a content smile. "I forgive you."

He returned her smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

She nodded. "See you." She turned away, beginning to walk home and she felt as if a huge weight was lifted off her shoulders. She arrived at home to find Liz eating fast food and lounging on the couch.

"How was your day back?" she asked between bites.

Celeste shrugged. "It was kind of weird." She sat beside Liz, taking a couple of fries. "How was your day alone?"

Liz shrugged. "Mine was kind of weird too."

Celeste chuckled. "Seems like it was a weird day for all of us then, huh?"

Celeste awoke the next morning, gazing at the ceiling with a smile on her face before jumping out of bed and washing up in the bathroom. She gazed at her reflection in the mirror, pulling her hair out of the ponytail it was in, letting her curly locks fall down to her hips before skipping back to her bedroom and pulling open her closet, withdrawing an off-white shirt with the black outline of the Eiffel Tower and a waist-high curly black mini skirt, finishing off the look with a pink blazer. She pulled on some regular pink heels before gazing at her reflection in the mirror and putting on her makeup to perfection. She pulled back the hair on the side her face into an off-white little bow clip before deciding she looked decent enough.

Celeste descended the stairs to find Liz already awake, intently staring at something on her laptop. Celeste put herself a breakfast composed of strawberries before sitting beside Liz. "What's got you in such a good mood?" Liz asked, eyeing her.

Celeste shrugged. "I just really like mornings." She lifted her gaze to her. "Why are you up this early? Usually you sleep in."

Liz shrugged. "I don't know actually. I just woke up and couldn't fall back asleep so I came down here. You know, I've spent the past few days here exploring and I think I really like this city."

"Really?"

Liz nodded. "Yeah. The houses here are gorgeous and inexpensive and it's way closer to my sister than where I live. I think when I finish school, I'll come out here. We should keep in touch when I have to leave."

Celeste gazed down at her plate in front of her as she ate. "Actually, I don't think I'm gonna stay here when I graduate. I'm glad you like it here though."

Liz furrowed her brow. "I guess I figured, considering the quality of your house and everything in it, your family is probably loaded enough for you to go somewhere else. I wouldn't blame you. Where do you want to go?"

Celeste touched her chin. "I don't know. I want to go anywhere and everywhere."

Liz smiled. "I guess the confines of being underage and school were the only thing holding you back then."

Celeste nodded. "I've always wanted to travel. I already have some of my own money saved up to do it."

"That's good. I still think we should keep in touch. The news says the flooding is finally starting to go down and by noon, they'll open up the streets again."

Celeste pouted. "Aw, I'll miss having a roommate."

Liz gave her a smile. "I'll miss you too. I'll leave my number once I get everything set to go."

Celeste returned her smile, getting to her feet. "Good luck on your trip back. I should get going. Hopefully we'll see each other again."

Liz nodded as Celeste gathered her things and they hugged goodbye before Celeste began making her way to school. She gazed around at all the loitering students in search of Maya or Lysander but when she couldn't find them, she sat at a bench, playing with her phone. She only looked up when she felt someone sit beside her and rolled her eyes upon seeing the boy she had kicked.

"Okay," she sighed, hoisting her bag strap over her shoulder, "I just got done serving a suspension because you don't know your limits so I'd prefer it if you wouldn't come within twenty feet of me." She got to her feet to see a couple of his friends surrounding her. "Um, excuse me."

One of them stepped forward and she held her ground, lifting her chin to show her confidence and furrowing her brow. "Hey, Miss Attitude," he muttered, "we've heard a lot about you."

Celeste lifted a brow. "_Miss Attitude_? Okay, I don't have time for this so if you'd kindly step aside, I would be ever so grateful."

The one who'd stepped forward cracked his knuckles, giving her a smirk. "I don't think so." He forcibly took her wrist tightly, so tightly she was sure it'd leave bruises.

"Let go of me," she snapped, "What is with you insane teenaged boys and thinking you're entitled to women? Get your nasty hands off of me."

He continued to smirk. "I think we should teach her a lesson." The other boys agreed and Celeste finally began to feel intimidated; probably for the first time in her life.

"She said get your nasty hands off of her." The voice surprised her and she had to look to make sure it was really Castiel she was hearing, coming to her rescue with an astonishingly unyielding expression as he eyed the boys tenaciously.

The boy holding her turned his smirk to Castiel. "Or what? You think you can take on all of us at once."

Castiel returned the smirk with an expression full of contempt as he took slow steps towards him. "I know I can; a couple of scrawny little sophomore boys don't scare me. If you don't let go of her and walk away right now," he grasped the collar of the boy's shirt, "I'll pound you so hard they won't be able to tell the difference between your face and the concrete under your feet."

The boy's smirk disappeared and he looked angry but released Celeste's wrist, pushing Castiel's hand away and led the other boys away, including the one on the bench. Once they were gone, Celeste furrowed her brow at Castiel.

"What?" he crossed his arms, "I scared them away from you. Aren't you supposed to fall in love with me now and be eternally grateful?"

Celeste rolled her eyes. "Do I look like a damsel in distress to you? If you'd have waited another minute, they'd be dog food right now."

Castiel shook his head in disbelief, turning away. "Of course they would," he sarcastically replied, beginning to walk away.

Celeste smiled. "Hey, Castiel," she called after him and he stopped, giving her a sideways glance, "Thanks for helping me out."

He just nodded in response and returned to his gait towards the school. Celeste returned to her spot on the bench, gazing at her bright red and blue wrist with a sigh; she didn't have any makeup or bracelets on her that would cover it up so she would have to just endure it until the day would end. She felt someone sit beside her again but this time lifted her gaze to see Lysander, a concerned expression on his face as he gazed at her wrist.

"What happened?" he asked.

Celeste rubbed her wrist. "You remember that stupid boy that I kicked?" He nodded. "He brought his friends to harass me and one of them grabbed me."

Lysander furrowed his brow. "He _grabbed_ you? And it was hard enough to leave a bruise?"

Celeste nodded. "It happened just before you came; that's why it's so red."

"How did you get them away?"

Celeste shrugged. "Castiel came by and gave them a threat or two."

Lysander sighed, leaning back against the back of the bench, gazing at his hands in his lap. "If only I had come by just a little bit sooner."

Celeste shook her head, taking his hands. "Don't worry about it, Lysander. I'm not looking for someone to come and rescue me because I don't need it. I don't want you to try and be my knight in shining armor or anything like that. I like you as you are."

Her words seemed to startle him and his gaze fell to their hands in his lap, rubbing hers with his thumbs. "Celeste," he spoke slowly, as if unsure how to word it, "you know... you've never told me you like me before."

Celeste gazed at him curiously before realizing he was right. She cocked her head to one side. "I thought you already knew."

He shook his head. "After I sang you the song, I thought you would tell me if you like me or not but you didn't."

Celeste smiled. "Well now you know." He returned her smile, squeezing her hands just before the bell rang. She pulled her bag over her shoulder, getting to her feet as he did as well. "Lysander," she began as they slowly approached the doors of the school, "what do you plan to do after high school?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I don't know what to pursue but I think I'll still try to get a degree just in case and in the meantime I'll work with my brother. Why do you ask?"

Celeste shook her head. "I was just wondering. I thought about it this morning and I realized it hadn't really occurred to me that this mysterious _post-high school_ thing is actually going to exist once we graduate."

"Then I'm guessing you don't know what you want to do either," he asked.

She nodded. "Not a clue. I don't really want to go to college to be completely honest. I'm not interested in any particular careers or majors and I'm not looking forward to another four years of school."

He lifted his gaze to her. "Why would you need to go to school? You already have a foothold in the art industry."

She smiled. "That's true. I don't think I'd mind painting for the rest of my life."

A few months passed and senior finals had just finished and graduation was just around the corner. Celeste, Maya, Lysander, Castiel, and Orrihime had a get-together at Celeste's house where they took a good luck shot, all excluding Maya. Celeste and Lysander still weren't officially _'together'_ although they liked each other and spent most of their time together. Maya was still with Nathaniel as well; she hadn't figured out his little secret yet at this point, but that was the plot to another story.

Celeste and Lysander went to the kitchen to prepare some snacks for their friends still stoked over finishing high school. Maya was teary-eyed but that was usual for her. Castiel was maybe a little bit too happy and Orrihime was indifferent.

The two of them began preparing finger sandwiches and homemade punch. "So," he broke the silence, "have you decided what you want after graduation?"

She smiled to herself. "I think I might travel." He lifted his gaze to her and she was afraid to look at him; she knew he'd be hurt and she didn't want to see it. "There are so many things in this world that I want to see. I want to see the Statue of Liberty, I want to see the White House, I want to experience downtown Chicago, and I want to see the great pyramids and the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben. I want to see the cherry blossoms of Japan and taste every Middle Eastern food there is. I want to feel alive, you know? I think it will be every type of wonderful and amazing but..." she met his gaze, "... I think it would be even better with you." Her words seemed to catch him by surprised, almost as though she didn't flirt with him all the time; but then again, this was different. When he stayed quiet, she held up a hand. "It's okay if you don't want to, I'll understand. I'm not asking you to commit to me either; if you ever decide you want out, I'll send you back, all expenses paid."

Lysander took a step towards her before touching her chin with his fingertips, almost as if he was afraid to be too rough, like her skin was glass. She met his mismatched gaze and her heart nearly stopped when she found his lips on hers. It was unexpected but never unwanted; when she gathered herself, she returned the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck. His lips felt as soft and smooth as flower petals and his finger was delicately tracing her jaw while his other hand was holding her waist. She had never felt his kiss before but now she wasn't sure how she could spend so much time with him without tasting it. The second he pulled away, she felt deprived and she gazed up at him to see a tender smile on his face.

"I would _love_ to travel the world with you."


	8. EIGHT: Angels and Goddesses

Celeste's eyes fluttered open and she found herself gazing at the Eiffel Tower through the large window just beside her and her face broke into a grin, sitting up. Her eyes fell to the other side of the bed where Lysander was sound asleep and her grin didn't falter, climbing out of bed carefully so as not to wake him. She had on a t-shirt and some short shorts but didn't feel much like changing out of them just yet as she snatched up her sketch book and a pencil. It was incredibly hot sharing a bed with someone and it was very unanticipated; that's why she tended to keep the clothing to a minimum when she slept and cranked up the air condition.

Celeste turned down the AC before taking her pencil and sketch pad to the desk and gazed at the blank paper intently. The sun was just rising and she didn't expect Lysander to wake for another few hours so she had time for herself. She took a deep breath before beginning to draw, her hand making easy marks on the paper and with precision, she was done not long after beginning. She had to stifle a groan she felt coming up in her throat at the sight of it. "Why can't I get it right?" she sighed to herself, burying her face into her arms.

It had only been a few weeks since graduation but as soon as Lysander and Celeste had finished saying their goodbyes and packing their things, they were off. Celeste hadn't notified her parents but it didn't matter; they wouldn't notice her disappearance. They were off having their own fun anyway. She jumped to her feet and tore out the drawing, tossing it in the garbage before taking a quick shower and then ordering room service. While awaiting the food, she peered into the bedroom to see Lysander still asleep and crept over, opening one of her suitcases as quietly as she could and planning an outfit for the day. By the time she finished, there was a knock on the door and she skipped over to get the food, tipping the person who brought it before eating only half of it, leaving the rest for Lysander. She then returned to her sketch pad and decided to draw Maya and Castiel.

Drawing them came so much easier for some reason; no, it wasn't that, it was just that drawing Lysander was difficult. He still had no idea that she was struggling to draw him and she didn't intend to tell him. Just imagining showing him her drawings of him embarrassed her; not because they were of him but because he'd only seen good drawings which were every drawing, whether it was casual or not, that wasn't him. It came out perfectly and she added color, smiling at her own creation and she hadn't realized how much time had passed until she heard Lysander climbing out of bed in the other room. She listened to his footsteps approach until his hands touched her shoulders and his lips met her cheek.

"Good morning," she cheerfully greeted him, watching as he sat down to eat, "Sorry if the food's cold, I got hungry a while ago."

"Morning," he responded between bites, "How long have you been up?"

She shrugged. "Since sunrise. I have to watch the sun come up."

"I don't know how you do it," he sighed.

Celeste grinned. "Maybe it's weird, but hey, it gives us both some alone time."

Lysander didn't complain as he continued eating, Celeste finishing up the drawing before signing her name and gazing at it with a sigh. "Homesick already?" Lysander teased and Celeste smiled.

"I wouldn't say I'm _homesick_, I just think it'd be nice to travel and still see them. I wonder how Maya's doing. Last I saw her, she was all knocked up and single." Celeste cocked her head to one side, touching her chin. "When she has the baby, we'll go back and see her. She's still young and doesn't have a mom to help her and give her advice, you know?"

Lysander gave her a smile. "So you're going to pretend to be her mother?"

Celeste giggled. "Hey, Castiel's pretending to be her boyfriend so I might as well." She set down her pencil and sat beside him, gazing up at him with a smile. "So today we should go see the Arc de Triomphe and then do some more shopping."

"That sounds like a plan," he answered, "You should get dressed."

Celeste nodded, getting to her feet and dialing Maya's cell phone number. At the sound of her voice, Celeste grinned. "Hey, Maya!"

"Celeste," Maya gushed, "I haven't heard from you since you stole Lysander and disappeared! How are you, girl?"

Celeste continued smiling, getting ready to go and talking at the same time. "I'm great, everything's great. You know you're living the life when you wake up in the morning and the first thing you see is the Eiffel Tower with a handsome boy sleeping next to you. What about you, Maya? Are you doing okay?"

Maya groaned. "You know, I'm about five months into my pregnancy and all I know is that I can't stop eating and I've gained seven pounds in the last two weeks. My feet are killing me."

Celeste giggled. "That's what you get for not using protection. Has Nathaniel won you over yet?"

Maya deeply sighed. "No, not yet. He won't leave me alone though. Thank goodness for Castiel's help in all this."

Celeste nodded. "Thank him for me, will you? I promise I'll come visit you when you have the baby so I can help you out some."

"Thanks a lot, Celeste," Maya gratefully answered, "I would really appreciate that. This whole situation is still so surreal. All I do is work and sleep lately. I guess I shouldn't complain; Castiel has it tougher."

Celeste smiled. "He's trying awfully hard for a baby that's not even his; for a _girl_ that's not even his."

"We're close friends, Celeste," Maya muttered as if people made accusations all the time, "He's not just going to leave me hanging. You wouldn't either and you know it."

Celeste chuckled. "I guess you're right. Castiel's help is a blessing."

Maya giggled. "That's an understatement. Anyway, tell me everything! What have you done since you got to Paris? Is Lysander being a good boyfriend or do I have to find you guys and teach him a lesson?"

Celeste laughed. "Don't worry about Lysander, he's a great boyfriend. I've been with a handful of boys since I started high school and let me tell you, not a single one of them was this great. I feel like they all didn't work out just so I could meet Lysander. In all honesty, I don't think I'd rather be with anyone else."

"Besides me, anyway," Maya giggled, "I'm happy that you guys are happy. Okay, Celeste, I'll have to let you go. I have to get to work now."

"Okay, talk to you later."

"Bye!"

Celeste hung up the phone, smiling at her reflection in the mirror; she was dressed just in time to finish talking to Maya. Lysander entered, going into his bags for clothes. "Lysander, I almost forgot to tell you," she turned to face him, "Miss Cunningham emailed me. She said she knows someone who lives out here who owns a gallery and she talked to him and set up a meeting for tonight."

He sighed, shaking his head as he got dressed. "This again?"

Celeste grinned at him. "_Yes_, this again. It will work this time because I won't be juggling it with school or anything else. And you were the one who said this could be my source of income. Besides, we're living together; you would notice if I didn't eat and, knowing you, you'd probably shove something down my throat to keep me fed." Her smile became sincere. "And anyway, I can't see myself getting to where I was last time. I'm very happy these days."

Lysander returned her smile although she could still see the uneasiness in his eyes. "If you say so..."

She continued to smile, approaching him and holding his face in the palms of her hands. "I _do_ say so. You have to trust me."

Celeste spent a significant amount of time drawing the Arc de Triomphe from every angle she could find before she and Lysander spent the rest of the day shopping. They dropped off their bags at the hotel and made it at the restaurant just in time to meet the man. He was the first Celeste noticed upon entering, with his incredibly curly black hair and his loud outfit, seated at a booth, chatting away with a couple of pretty girls. She felt unsure at first, approaching slowly but she was sure it was him when his gaze met hers and he jumped to his feet, rushing over to her. His name was Ethan.

"You are Celeste, correct?" he spoke English with ease but his French accent was quite heavy. Celeste nodded and he took her hand, giving her a very formal kiss on it. "My dear Amanda gave me a description of you but neglected to tell me that you are a goddess." Lysander was quick to squeeze Celeste's shoulder, clearing his throat and Celeste couldn't help but laugh at his obvious jealousy. Ethan lifted his gaze to Lysander before standing up straight. "You must be the boyfriend. I am Ethan, and you are?"

"Lysander," he answered, giving him a firm gaze.

Ethan grinned, leading them over to his booth. "Have a seat, you two." Lysander got into the booth first, letting Celeste sit across from Ethan. "Amanda sent me photos of your paintings." He leaned forward, crossing his arms on the table. "You didn't happen to bring any of them with you, did you?"

Celeste shook her head. "No, I'm sorry I didn't. Next time we meet, I can show you some."

Ethan nodded. "That works as well. I was very impressed by what Amanda showed me and I should tell you that I only talk to artists of the best caliber. They normally aren't so young. How old are you?"

"Eighteen," Celeste answered, "I just recently graduated."

Ethan's brow rose. "You're much younger than I thought! I hope it's not too overwhelming for you. Amanda tells me you have opened at a gallery before."

Celeste nodded. "I have. I have plenty of free time these days so I'm not worried."

"That's very impressive," he complimented, "I don't know many artists with your talent who are so young. You could easily make a very big name for yourself."

Celeste smiled. "Thank you. I think so too."

Ethan nodded. "You're very pretty as well; I can understand why your boyfriend has been glaring at me this entire time."

Celeste giggled, glancing at Lysander. "He's just a little overprotective. He didn't want me to come and meet you tonight."

"Oh? Why's that?"

Celeste shrugged. "He thinks I can't handle it."

Ethan shook his head, lifting his gaze at Lysander. "No, don't think like that. I hardly know the girl but she seems ready to take on the world. You have to believe in her."

Celeste nodded, meeting Lysander's gaze. "Yeah, Lysander, You have to believe in me."

Lysander just sighed without a word, looking away.

Lysander was quiet throughout the dinner, leaving Celeste and Ethan to chat away for the night until it became late and she said goodbye. He was quiet through the drive home until they arrived at their hotel room.

"I don't like that guy," he told her once they arrived, "I don't think you should do this."

Celeste sighed loudly. "Lysander, I told you I can handle it. You just don't like him because he called me pretty." She turned to face him, taking his hands. "Listen to me. I have all the free time in the world and I'm perfectly relaxed and I have the best, most _supportive_ boyfriend on this earth and I have no doubt in my mind that this will go well. You'll see; whenever that gallery opening is, I'll rock it and then we'll come home with a big check and you'll tell me how proud you are." She grinned at him.

He took a deep breath before nodding. "Okay, I trust you." He gave her a peck on the lips before returning her smile and she turned, leading the way into the bedroom where they both changed into pajamas. Celeste plopped into the bed, lying down facing the ceiling with her hands on either side of her head, the exhaustion of the day coming over her. Lysander climbed on to the bed right beside her, entwining both of his hands with hers and giving her another kiss before tucking his head over her shoulder, his lips just barely brushing against her neck. "The only reason I'm complaining is because I just don't want to see you go through that again. I do trust and support you; I just don't want you to get too overwhelmed by all of this. I won't argue with you over it anymore but if something happens to you, I will do everything I can to keep you from pursuing that gallery opening. Knowing you, you could be on your death bed but you'd still be asking for your easel."

Celeste smiled, squeezing his hands in hers. "Nothing will happen to me. This time's different." She took a deep slow breath, closing her eyes. "I love you."

He propped himself up on to his elbows so that he could gaze at her and he smiled, kissing her again but more slowly this time and when their lips parted, he stayed there with his eyes closed. "I love you."

She smiled at him once he opened his eyes. "Are you going to stay up late?" When he nodded, she wrapped her arms firmly around his neck, forcing him to turn on to his back and she sat on his stomach, giving him a grin. She reached over and withdrew her sketchbook and a pencil.

Watching her as she flipped to a blank page, he chuckled. "You know, I'm a really lucky guy."

Celeste puffed out her cheeks, grasping his jaw and adjusting the position of his face. "Stay still," she demanded, "I have trouble drawing you as it is. I can't have you moving around so much."

Drawing him while he modeled for her this way was much easier to do than drawing him off the top of her head. The drawing came out beautifully and with as much ease as she normally had drawing Maya or Castiel or anyone else on the planet.

"So," Celeste began, continuing to draw him, "I was thinking for my theme I'd do something angelic. Lately I've been thinking about angels a lot." She paused, tapping her chin with her pencil. "I always imagined that if angels exist, they'd have a whole kingdom where ranks increase with power. I also imagine they have all kinds of different wings and feathers. Some wings small, some large, some white, some pink, some black, some brown. Even the feathers could be big and fluffy or short and sharp. The angels would all be very beautiful." She finished the drawing, leaving it as a sketch because she could feel the exhaustion creeping up on her. She set the sketchbook and pencil back on the nightstand, resting her head on his chest. "I think people are so beautiful. There's such a variety of them, you know? Everyone is so unique. So many different hair colors and eye colors and skin colors. So many kinds of markings like freckles and beauty marks and even moles. There are even so many combinations of size and shape for every facial feature. People are just so beautiful to me." She hugged him tightly, closing her eyes. "The universe decided to put all the best features into one person to create the most beautiful person in the world; the only person on this planet who gives me so much inspiration every time I see him." She yawned. "That person just so happens to be in my arms right now."

And so she drifted off into a slumber.


	9. NINE: Celeste's Parents

It was dark.

"We can't bring her along with us, Alex." That was the sound of her mother's voice. Celeste sat up, gazing around and finding herself back in her bedroom. She could see that night had fallen through the gaps of the open curtains and she sat up, rubbing her eyes. She slid out of bed and approached the door when she heard her mother's voice again. "We're going on _vacation_. She'll be nothing but a nuisance."

Celeste cocked her head to one side before pressing her ear against the door curiously. "Of course we won't bring her," her father's voice replied nonchalantly, "She's old enough to stay home by herself. If not, we can have someone come by to check on her."

Celeste took a few steps back when she heard footsteps approaching her door, her wide eyes rising when the door opened and she gasped. Her parents were so very tall, towering over her as if she were still a small child. She backed up against the foot of her bed but they only drew closer.

"Celeste," her mother spoke with a skewered and deep voice, "we have to go somewhere important tomorrow morning. You're going to stay right here, okay?"

When Celeste did nothing but tremble, her father knelt down beside her, taking her hand. He was still much taller than her. "I'm sorry we have to leave you behind," he murmured, though his eyes said otherwise, "But you'll be a good girl, right?" Her gaze moving back and forth between them, she realized they were awaiting an answer. She swallowed hard, nodding slowly and her father gave her forehead a tender kiss. "That's right, Celeste. You're a good girl."

"If I'm a good girl," Celeste's voice was soft and high pitched as she spoke, "that means you will come back, right?"

Her mother laughed. "Of course we will come back; this is our house, isn't it?"

Celeste gazed up at her, avoiding her glowing red eyes. "This is your house but I'm your daughter."

Her father stood, ignoring Celeste's remark. "Yes, this is our house and we paid good money for it. If we didn't come back for too long, we would have so much work to do on it."

Celeste gazed up at them. Although the light coming in from the open door was hitting them directly, they looked like shadows and had glowing bright red eyes; that wasn't right. "What about me? What if I get old and dirty while you're gone too?"

The two of them just laughed, stepping back outside. "Goodnight, Celeste," her mother said as she closed the door.

Suddenly it felt as if the floor below Celeste's feet gave way, dropping her into water. She gasped for air, swimming towards the top but it seemed she'd never reach it.

Just as she felt she'd suffocate, Celeste jerked awake, gasping for precious air as she sat up. Her blurry vision began to clear and she found herself back in the hotel bedroom, still on top of Lysander as she'd fallen asleep. Lysander had awoken at the sound of her gasp and he was propped up on to his elbows, gazing at her worriedly. "Are you okay?"

Celeste nodded, climbing out of bed. "I just had a bad dream." Her shaky body made it's way to the mini fridges and retrieved a water bottle, leaning against it and catching her breath.

She downed her water bottle in a few gulps and turned to find Lysander just behind her. "Are you sure you're okay? You've never woken up like this before."

Celeste nodded again. "I told you I had a bad dream." She gazed at the wall behind him, taking a deep breath; breathing felt good. She tossed out the water bottle before meeting Lysander's gaze. "I think I miss my parents."

It was about noon and Celeste gazed at her cell phone, her finger hovering over the 'Call' button in her mother's contact, Lysander sitting beside her for moral support. She took a deep breath before pushing the button and lifting the phone to her ear on Lysander's side so he could hear too. "I don't know if she'll answer," she whispered to him, "I changed my number not too long ago and she doesn't have it."

After a few rings, she heard a cheery, "Hello?"

Celeste felt relief at the sound of her mother's voice; there was nothing like the bond between mother and child. "Mom, it's Celeste. I'm glad you haven't changed your number."

"Oh, Celeste," her mother responded, "You changed _your_ number though. How are things? You didn't tear apart the house, did you?"

Celeste chuckled. "No, I didn't. I'm actually not at home. I saved up some money and went to Paris."

Her mother gasped. "You're all the way in Paris? All by yourself?"

"No," Celeste answered, "I'm with my boyfriend. Things have been great but I started to miss you and dad so I decided to call you."

Her mother chuckled. "We were in Paris just a couple of weeks ago. You should've let us know you were coming so we could stay a while longer to see you."

"Yeah, maybe I should've," Celeste smiled, realizing her dream was just a dream and nothing she should worry about, "You don't think you can come out here again, can you?"

"Sorry, honey, we're a little too busy now."

"Oh, are you far?"

"All the way over in Miami. We couldn't just drop everything and leave."

"That's okay; it was a shot in the dark anyway. How are you guys? You never call me anymore."

"We've been busy. These days, the work seems endless. We've been great though. Things have been going really well."

Celeste smiled at Lysander before speaking again. "I'm glad you guys are okay. I've been doing great too. Recently I had my art showcased in a gallery and last night I met with another gallery owner. He said he was very impressed."

Her mother mumbled something to someone else. "Celeste, dear, I have to go. I'll call you when I'm not busy."

"Okay. Bye, mom." The line was dead before her mother returned the goodbye and Celeste gazed at her phone for a minute before turning to Lysander. "We have to go see them."

Lysander furrowed his brow. "You want to go see them? What about the gallery?"

Celeste returned her gaze to her phone. "Maybe we could go after that. I just feel like we should see them."

He took a deep breath, nodding. "Okay, Celeste, if that's what you really want."

A month passed and Ethan had given Celeste plenty of time to pace herself with her paintings so things went just as smoothly as she predicted. She and Lysander had a fancy dinner and afterwards she did some research to figure out where exactly in Miami they were; with her connections, she managed to find them without trouble. She planned to surprise them and her mother had been too busy to answer the phone anyway.

After a very long flight, the plane landed and Celeste and Lysander took a cab to the hotel where her parents were staying and Celeste squeezed Lysander's hand as the elevator rose to their floor.

"Are you nervous about seeing your own parents?" he asked her.

Celeste shook her head before cocking her head to one side thoughtfully, shrugging. "I haven't seen them in a long time... like since I was fifteen."

Lysander eyed her. "That's an awfully long time to go without seeing your own parents."

She shrugged again. "They move us around without coming by to see how it goes. I don't really know why they like to move so much; they hardly ever come home." She glued her gaze to the screen that told her which floor they were passing. "They're very busy."

The elevator rang a bell and the door opened to reveal the elegant top floor where the presidential suite was; that was where her parents would be staying, no doubt. She continued to squeeze Lysander's hand until they were finally at their door. She lifted her hand and gave a knock, holding her breath until she couldn't anymore; all they heard was silence.

"Maybe they're out right now," she told Lysander, "Let's book a-..."

She was interrupted by the door opening. Her mother looked just as young as ever; probably putting her money into Botox and plastic surgery, but that wasn't what concerned Celeste. What concerned her was the fact that her mother had on teenaged girl pajamas and, judging by her hair, she hadn't left the hotel in days. Her father was behind her, lounging on the sofa without a care in the world. If this is what they were spending their time doing, what in the world kept them too occupied to answer the phone?

"Celeste," her mother gasped and she could see her father shift behind her, "Um... what are you doing here?"

Celeste gave them the benefit of the doubt and a smile. "I wanted to surprise you. Now that I'm not in school anymore, I figured why not? I missed you guys. I thought you'd be at my graduation but I didn't see you."

Her mother sheepishly chuckled, scratching her head. "Yeah, um, something came up. Honey... come and see your daughter. She's all grown up."

Her father came up behind her mother, his gaze going from Celeste to Lysander and back again. "Where? I don't see my daughter." Celeste giggled and he ruffled her hair. "When did you graduate? I thought you were sixteen."

Celeste furrowed her brow. "I was sixteen two years ago, dad. I graduated in May; it's July."

He chuckled. "Time flies, huh? Why don't you two come inside?"

Celeste led Lysander inside once her parents stepped aside and her father closed the door. She sat down in between Lysander and her mother on the sofa, leaving her father to sit in the recliner, which he didn't seem to mind. "Celeste," her mother spoke from the other side of her, "Aren't you going to introduce us to your boyfriend?"

"Oh yeah," Celeste smiled, "This is Lysander." She paused to let Lysander greet them. "We met at Sweet Amoris."

Her father furrowed his brow. "What's Sweet Amoris?"

Celeste cleared her throat. "The high school that you enrolled me in last semester."

"Oh, right," he tapped his arm rest with his fingernails, "So how long will you be in town?"

Celeste shrugged. "I don't know. I'll talk to some people and see if there are any galleries around here looking for artists but if not, I probably will only stay a couple of weeks. I only wanted to visit you guys; Florida doesn't seem like the most amazing place to be honest."

"Well how long were you in Paris?" her mother chimed in.

"About a month," Celeste answered, "but only because there was so much to see and do, on top of the gallery. I did so much shopping there, though."

"So where do you plan to stay?" her mother asked.

Celeste gave them a smile. "We were gonna book a room here, so we could spend time with you guys."

"Oh, that's nice," her father slowly said, meeting her mother's gaze before giving Celeste a smile, "Your flight here was long, wasn't it? You should go book your room and get some rest."

"Maybe you're right," Celeste agreed, "It's getting kind of late. Let's go get our room, Lysander. Tomorrow we should all spend the day together. Wouldn't that be fun?"

They booked their room and were both tired enough to be in bed at the same time. The air conditioning was high and Celeste was comfortable and happy, her arm over Lysander's waist and her head on his shoulder.

"I can't wait until tomorrow," she murmured.

Lysander lifted her arm off of him, turning her around so her back was to his chest and he held her tightly. "You should sleep now and get excited when you wake up."

She giggled. "I can't help it. I'm so happy that I'm finally getting involved with my parents. I've never really known them that well, you know? It'd be nice to get to know them; they're my parents, after all."

He kissed her head. "Yes, but the longer you take to fall asleep, the longer it'll be until you get to see them again."

She nodded. "You're right."

After a full night's rest, Celeste awoke early the next morning, finding the spot where Lysander had been sleeping to be empty. She curiously cocked her head to one side, climbing out of bed. "Lysander?" she called, taking slow steps towards the door of the suite's bedroom and peering out. She found him clenching his phone and tossing something in the garbage. "You're up early," she chuckled, opening the door completely and approaching him, "What's the occasion?"

He turned to face her, giving her an obviously forced smile. "I don't know; I just happened to wake up."

She grinned. "Why don't we go have breakfast with my parents?"

His expression became troubled and he avoided her gaze. "I think we should stay and have breakfast here. We haven't had breakfast together since we left Sweet Amoris."

Celeste nodded before shrugging. "Alright, we could do that. But lunch with my parents for sure, okay?" He didn't reply, ordering room service as Celeste plopped down on the sofa, gazing up at him until he sat down beside her. "I hope they don't intend to lounge around like before while I'm here," she giggled, "They looked like they'd been inside for days."

He took a deep breath, meeting her gaze. "Celeste, maybe we should just forget about this. You said you wanted to go to London, right? Why don't we do that and see Big Ben instead?"

She furrowed her brow. "Look, I know this isn't the prettiest city in the world, especially considering we were in Paris, but I'm here to see my parents. I can't _'just forget about this'_."

He took her hand. "Celeste, I'm saying this because I love you. They didn't seem too interested yesterday; we should leave."

She shook her head, withdrawing her hand. "I don't know what's gotten into you this morning but I'm not gonna leave. I think I know my parents just a little better than you do and I'm insisting on staying."

She eyed him and he sighed, looking away. "Okay. I'm sorry."

After breakfast, they both washed up and prepared themselves for the day, before leaving the hotel room and walking down the hall to Celeste's parents' room. She rapped on the door, anxiously awaiting a response but when she received only silence, she rapped on it again.

"Oh are you looking for the people who were there last night?" a voice startled Celeste from behind and she turned to see a man in uniform; a hotel employee. She nodded. "They checked out a few hours ago. You missed them."

Celeste furrowed her brow. "They checked out? That can't be right." She lifted her gaze to Lysander. "Let's go back. I'll call them and see what's going on."

She led the way back to the hotel room and Lysander disappeared into the bedroom, leaving her to pace as she dialed both of her parents' numbers and received no answer for either. She sighed, rolling her eyes and her gaze landed on the crumbled up piece of paper in the garbage can that Lysander had tossed out in the morning. Curiosity came over her and she knelt down, retrieving the paper and unfolding the creases until it was legible.

"Celeste," she heard Lysander say behind her, "don't read that!"

However, he was just moments late as the note was already open in her hands.

'_Dear Celeste,_

_You are not the daughter we wanted.'_


	10. TEN: British Bartender

Celeste covered her mouth, gazing at the note with wide eyes. Her parents must have left it before they checked out so they'd be sure she wouldn't follow them. Somehow, she didn't feel sad; she just felt numb, as if the idea of being rejected by her parents was too much for her heart to comprehend.

"You are not the daughter we wanted," she murmured to herself, "I'm not the daughter that they wanted. They wanted a daughter who isn't me."

Lysander peered out of the bedroom at the sound of her mumbling and he rushed over to her, taking the paper from her hands and returning it to the garbage. "Celeste, don't feel so bothered by this. You've lived so much of your life without them. Why should that be any different now?"

Celeste gazed at her hands where the paper was for a moment, contemplating what he was saying before lifting her gaze to him. _"'Don't feel bothered by it'?_ How am I supposed to not feel bothered by it? My parents don't want me. Am I just supposed to shrug my shoulders and be okay with it?"

He knelt down in front of her, grasping her shoulders. "You _have_ to. Do you expect me to watch you sulk for however many days?" Celeste furrowed her brow, looking away. "You mean the world to me, Celeste. I know that if the roles were reversed, the last thing you'd ever do is let me be sad about it; even if you had to drag me somewhere fun. I'm going to do the same thing for you."

Celeste lifted her gaze to him again, taking a deep breath. "You're right. Let's get out of here."

"Where should we go?" he asked, "I don't know anything of interest in this city besides the beach."

She shook her head. "I mean let's get out of this city. Let's get out of this state; this whole country. I can't stand it here anymore. Let's go to London now."

He nodded, taking her hands and pulling her to her feet. "When should we go? We're already packed."

"ASAP," she announced, "Where's my laptop? I'll book our flights now. We can leave tonight." She hurried into the bedroom to her laptop on the bed and opened it up, quickly going to the website of an international airport and hurriedly booking a flight to London that took off a bit before midnight. She took a deep breath and leaned her head against his shoulder beside her. "You know right now I feel pretty stupid and crappy but I'm glad I'm with you instead of anyone else." He kissed her head and for a split second, she doubted her words. Of course she loved him but just for that split second, she wondered if she'd feel happier while drunk with Maya hanging out at some random party. She sat up straight and gave him a smile before getting to her feet, taking his hands and pulling him to his as well. "Well, sitting around is going to be boring. Let's go do something fun. Let's go to Disney World."

He furrowed his brow. "Celeste, there's no way we could go all the way to Disney World and enjoy ourselves and have enough time to make it back for our flight."

She crossed her arms. "This state is boring. It's too hot to do anything."

"We could go swimming," he suggested but she quickly shook her head.

"I didn't want to travel the world to go swimming. I'd rather stay in the hotel all day."

He sighed. "Why don't we stay in the hotel all day then?"

She shook her head again, pouting. "That's boring."

"You're making things difficult, Celeste."

He opened up her bag and tossed some pajamas at her and she gazed at them curiously. "What do you want me to do with these?"

"Put them on, of course." He picked up the phone. "We'll get some room service and watch some movies." She gazed at him with wide eyes as if she couldn't believe his words and was ready to snap at him before he spoke again. "If you start to think too much at any point today, tell me and I'll take your mind off of it. I would rather spend my day telling you that it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of you, even your own parents, than watch you go to some club or party like I know you want to do. You'll get wasted and throw yourself at every good looking person you see and I'll have to drag you back here and we'll get on our flight while you're drunk and you'll make a scene. So I'll just save both of us the trouble."

Celeste watched him order room service as she changed into the pajamas before approaching him from behind and wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. "I don't know what kind of freaky voodoo magic you're doing to read my mind but I do know that I love you and I'm glad you came with me on this trip. Could you imagine if I took Maya instead? If she wasn't pregnant, she would totally drag me to a different party every night and we would spend these years hammered. Then we wouldn't remember it in the end."

Fortunately, Celeste spent the entire plane ride sleeping on Lysander and they arrived in London the next morning. They booked a hotel room and Celeste was quick to call Miss Cunningham and Ethan to check if they had any gallery connections in London and was easily promised a dinner date with another gallery owner. This one was a woman and was much more serious and strict than Ethan, but Celeste didn't care. Art would take her mind off of things and that was all she wanted.

The gallery owner gave her three weeks to perfect her theme and paintings. Celeste had been painting for two days, sneaking out of bed once Lysander was asleep to continue painting. She hadn't slept since before meeting the gallery owner.

"Celeste," Lysander called, "Breakfast is here. Come and eat; you've been working yourself too hard." Celeste hummed a response without paying much attention to him as he spoke and it wasn't long until she felt his presence behind her. "Celeste, I'm not going to let you do this a second time. Come and eat."

She frowned at him. "I'm not hungry, Lysander; I ate earlier."

"You're lying," he insisted, taking her wrist that didn't hold a paint brush, "Come on."

He pulled her away from the easel and she whimpered. "I told you, Lysander. I'm not hungry."

He took the brush and paint from her hands, setting them aside before pulling her over to the food cart. "Celeste, I don't believe you. Sit down and eat and don't make me resort to spoon feeding you."

Celeste pouted like a child, plopping down on the couch and Lysander sat beside her. They ate in silence and after some slow, small bites, Celeste was quick to jump to her feet and return to her easel, receiving a sigh of exasperation from Lysander.

After a few more minutes of painting while he finished his breakfast, he peered into the room. "Celeste, let's go out today. You've been working so hard; it's time for a break."

She shook her head. "It's never time for a break."

He stepped between her and the painting, taking the brush and paint from her again and setting them aside. He took her hands, giving her a warm smile. "We're in London. Let's go out and enjoy it."

She pouted again. "You're gonna make me do this too?" she sighed.

He nodded. "You need a break. We can go see Big Ben and do some shopping. Don't you want that?"

She looked away. "I don't feel good."

He sighed, getting clothes for the day out of his bag. "Don't come up with excuses."

She dragged her feet to her own bag and retrieved a lazy outfit, putting it on with exaggerated laziness and throwing her hair up into a bun, smudging on some makeup. She grabbed a random bag of hers, filling it with her things and Lysander was already ready, waiting in the living room. "Let's go," she mumbled.

He ignored her unenthusiastic expression, slipping his hand in hers and pulling her along out the door behind him. "I called a cab," he told her and, as expected, there was a cab waiting in front of the hotel. He led her inside and told the cab to drop them off somewhere near Big Ben.

Celeste pouted with her arms crossed, leaning her head against the window the entire car ride and the ride was silent. Once they arrived, Lysander paid the cabbie and pulled Celeste by her hand out of the car.

"Isn't it pretty?" he asked, nudging her with his elbow as he gazed up at Big Ben, "We're seeing one of the most famous things in the world. Don't you want to draw it or at least take a picture so you can draw it later?" She shook her head quickly. "Celeste, you're acting like a five year old. If you keep working so hard, you're going to get sick."

"I already told you I don't feel good," she insisted and he sighed.

"Lying to stay home and paint doesn't count." He began walking along the sidewalk and Celeste's vision began spinning, her knees giving away. It took Lysander a few moments to realize Celeste wasn't beside him anymore and he rushed over to her, helping her to her feet. "Celeste, what's wrong?" She gazed down at her feet and he felt her forehead. "You're burning up. Let me take you to..."

She was engulfed in darkness before she could hear the rest of his sentence.

When Celeste's eyes fluttered open, she found herself in a hospital bed with Lysander standing beside her. He brushed back her bangs from her face and she lifted her chin, sitting up gingerly.

"Do you feel okay?" he asked.

She shrugged. "A little lightheaded, kind of weak; but in general, I feel okay."

He nodded slowly. "The doctor said you have a fever, probably stress induced. Your body is also low on nutrients... which means you haven't been eating. And you're exhausted, which means you haven't been sleeping." She furrowed her brow, looking away from him and he took her hand. "Celeste, is something wrong? Why aren't you feeling well?" There was a pause where she didn't respond and he continued, "Is this because of your parents?"

Celeste withdrew her hand without meeting his gaze. "Why are you being so nosy? It's none of your business."

He sighed deeply, burying his face in his hands before letting them fall to his sides. "It _is_ my business because you're my girlfriend and you're in a hospital bed. I promised you that if something bad happened to you because of a gallery that I wouldn't let you do it."

She gave him a glare. "You can't stop me. I'm gonna do that gallery offer. That has nothing to do with this."

"It has everything to do with this," he insisted, "You've stopped eating, you've stopped sleeping, you don't even leave the hotel anymore; all because you've been painting. If this continues, you could _die_."

She shook her head. "I don't care what you say. I'm gonna finish my theme. You're not the boss of me and if you keep acting like it, then I'll be just fine travelling the rest of the world on my own."

He stiffened, staying silent for a few long moments as if processing what she had said. "So you're saying that you'll break up with me for caring about you."

She shifted her gaze to the other side of her bed. "I always did have a bad habit of losing interest in people." He reacted to her words as if she'd slapped him and in her peripheral vision, she watched him leave the room. She gazed at the wall before burying her face in her hands. "I did it again," she mumbled, "I opened my big mouth."

Celeste was released from the hospital later on and took a cab back to the hotel. She walked slowly, mentally planning out her apology for Lysander; they'd never fought like that before so she wasn't exactly sure what to say. She scanned her key card and entered the suite, gazing around. The living room was empty so she crept over to the bedroom and peered inside to find it vacant. She heaved an exasperated sigh, burying her face in her hands. "I truly am an idiot," she muttered before slipping her phone out of her pocket, dialing his number. It only rang a couple of times before going to voicemail. "Hey, Lysander... Look, I messed up. I didn't mean what I said, so... I wanted to apologize. I don't usually apologize for things so this is important. Call me or text me or meet me at the hotel or something, okay?" She heard a beep just as she finished her last word and she returned her phone to her pocket.

Instead of staying in the hotel room, Celeste left and went walking until she found the nearest bar. She heaved a sigh of relief and pushed open the doors, sitting at an empty stool with no one next to her. It only had a couple of people; of course, that was because it was still day out and the only people who went out to bars at this time were sad about something. The bartender approached her, wiping off a glass and setting it down.

"Get me some tequila," she instructed, setting her purse on the table, "You know what to do with the salt."

He nodded, preparing her drink and sliding it over to her. "What's the issue?"

She gazed up at him with a furrowed brow, retrieving her credit card from her purse and handing it to him. "What do you mean?"

He charged her card, returning it to her. "I don't usually get pretty girls like you coming here all by themselves before sunset."

She rolled her eyes. "Boyfriend troubles," she muttered.

He chuckled. "Are you American?" he asked. She nodded. "You look fresh out of high school. I thought the drinking age in America is twenty-one."

She furrowed her brow, gazing left and right before meeting his gaze. "I don't know if you were aware, but we're not in America right now."

He chuckled again, shaking his head. "No, we're not. So what's going on with your boyfriend?"

She took a big gulp from her drink, wiping off her mouth with her wrist as she winced at the strength of the drink. "You're pretty nosy for a bartender, aren't you?"

He grinned at her, shrugging. "It's pretty quiet at this time on a week day and you're a new face. I'd die of boredom if I didn't get a little nosy sometimes."

She sighed, gazing at her drink. "I have some... unhealthy habits and he was trying to get me out of them in a strict way but I got annoyed with him and said some rude things. Then he walked out and I have no idea where he is. We don't even _live_ here, we're only visiting and we've barely been here three days. I don't know where he could be."

"Well you know, he's an adult, right?" he pointed out, "He's not a little kid or a pet or something. You don't have to worry so much. I'm sure he was just upset and he'll come around again."

She nodded. "You're right." She finished her drink and was already beginning to feel lightheaded. "Get me another shot. Hey, you know, you're pretty cute. What time does your shift end?"

He eyed her as he prepared another drink for her and handed it to her. "What happens if I tell you?"

She took a big gulp of her drink. "Then maybe we could take a trip to your place and go on an adventure. How does that sound?"

He grinned at her. "It sounds like you're already tipsy but that's a very tempting offer that I can't bring myself to decline."


	11. ELEVEN: Lysander

Celeste awoke with a throbbing headache, her heavy eyelids opening and she found herself in an unfamiliar bedroom. Sitting up, she gazed around, scratching her head. The room was empty but the spot next to her on the bed looked freshly vacated. She climbed out of bed and only when she wasn't covered by the blanket did she realize that she was only half dressed. She quickly put her clothes back on, which were thrown all over the floor. She felt exhausted and nauseous, lifting her phone off of the nightstand and checking it to see a bunch of missed calls from Lysander. "Stupid, stupid, stupid," she mumbled to herself in a panic.

It was the bartender. The apartment was vacant, but it had to have been the bartender; she recalled flirting with him but couldn't remember much after her second drink. Her palms began to sweat and her heart began to race. There was no way she'd cheat on Lysander... right? She took a few deep breaths in a failed attempt to calm herself before rushing out of the apartment building. This wasn't far from the hotel, so she walked slowly, coming up with excuses in her head. She could tell him it had been a girl who took her home because she was too drunk and didn't want something bad to happen, but he'd be just as offended, considering Celeste's bisexuality. She could say she wandered around all night drawing things, but then he'd wonder where her sketchpad was.

Celeste still felt nauseous and her headache was becoming an overwhelming migraine, similar to the headache from a concussion. She could feel her head throbbing and her heart was racing, her palms still sweaty. When she finally arrived at the hotel room, she took a deep breath and scanned her room key, entering slowly to find a pacing Lysander who looked like he hadn't slept all night.

Lysander rushed over, gathering her in his arms. "Where have you been?" he breathed, almost as if he couldn't believe she'd returned, "I was worried sick. I heard your voicemail and came back from my walk but you were gone."

Celeste couldn't bring herself to return the hug. She felt filthy, knowing she spent the night with another guy behind his back. How would Lysander react to that? "Lysander, I have to tell you something." He released her, a reluctant but definitely curious look on his face. She felt a lump in her throat and tears welled in her eyes. "After what happened with my parents, I've been having this bout of depression. Everyone has them, I know, and I know it will go away eventually. Despite our recent irritation with each other, I love you. I think I'll always love you as long as you return the favor. Even if you stopped loving me and you decided to break up with me and never speak to me again, I think it'd take me a lot of time and pain to get over you. I've never felt like that about any other guy before." She took a deep breath. "Yesterday, when I went out... I was confused and hurt and I went to a bar. I had a few too many and started flirting with the bartender." She could visibly see him tense up; he probably knew where it was headed but she continued anyway. "I woke up in someone's bed and I don't really remember anything between being at the bar and waking up. I was alone but I was only in my undergarments and the spot next to me looked like someone slept in it."

There was a long, heavy silence and she slowly lifted her gaze to his face. His eyes were wide and his mouth slightly open, reacting like she'd told him she murdered someone. But that would be different; knowing him, he would probably scold her then help her hide the body. This wasn't like she killed just anyone; she felt as if she'd killed Lysander, himself. "You... cheated on me?" he finally managed to say and his words made her heart clench. "After everything I've done for you... After I tried so hard to keep you happy and healthy after what your parents said to you, even when you acted like a kid about it. I feel like I've been going to every corner of the planet just to please you and this is how you repay me?"

The tears that had been building up in her eyes finally began spilling out. She'd never cried over something a boy said to her before, not until now. "I'm so sorry," she murmured, "I was being a brat yesterday and I didn't like that you were telling me what to do. I shouldn't even have gone to that stupid bar. I should have just stayed here and waited."

"No." He shook his head before continuing, "You didn't do anything. I was the wrong one here." She furrowed her brow, gazing up at him. "I should've known a girl like you could never stay faithful. I shouldn't have come on this trip with you in the first place."

She watched him turn away from her, retreating to the bedroom and she fell into a crouch, crossing her arms over her knees and burying her face into them. "Are you gonna go?" she managed to say, her voice high pitched and quiet. The only response she received was the sound of the door closing. After crying on to her arms for who knows how long, Celeste withdrew her phone from her pocket and dialed Maya's number. She felt relief at the sound of her voice answering the phone. "Maya, I need your help with something."

"Celeste, are you crying?" Maya's voice was serious and she seemed genuinely concerned.

Celeste used her free hand to wipe the tears off of her cheeks. "I did the worst thing ever and I'm a terrible person."

"What did you do?"

Celeste changed to a sitting position, leaning against the door of the hotel room. "I... I cheated on him."

Maya gasped. "Does he know? Give me the details!"

"I told him as soon as I came home. It's not entirely clear what happened. See, we've been... kind of annoyed with each other lately because I've been acting like a brat and he's been trying to get me into better habits, in a bad way. We got into a fight yesterday and I was stupid and went and got really drunk at some bar and I flirted with the bartender and woke up in his bed with half my clothes on. I just got back from his place. He wasn't there when I woke up but I'm pretty sure it was him."

"Oh, my god," Maya gasped, "Celeste! Is he mad?"

Celeste sighed. "Of course he is, Maya. And he has every right to be mad. I'd be just as mad if the roles were reversed. Actually, I'd probably track down whoever he cheated with and bury them alive." She used her free hand to wipe her eyes, ignoring the stinging of her wet eye makeup leaking into her eyes. "I don't know what to do. He's probably going to go back to Sweet Amoris and I don't know how I should make it up to him. I want to see you."

There was a pause before Maya suggested, "Hey, why don't you go with him? Maybe you two just need a break from each other. Castiel and I only get to speak on the weekends but we've never been closer!"

Celeste sniffled. "Do you think he'll agree to it? He was really mad."

"I don't know. I've never seen Lysander mad before. I think he will, though. Wait for him to cool off and then when he's calmer, bring it up. Do it casually. Say it's because you want to see me."

Celeste nodded. "That sounds like a plan."

"I can't wait to see you! My belly has gotten really big since you've been gone. We went to check the baby's gender and they said it's a girl!"

Celeste smiled. In her sadness, she'd forgotten about Maya's happiness. "Have you decided on a name yet?"

"No," Maya giggled, "I was thinking hard about it. I've been looking all over the internet but nothing feels right."

Celeste chuckled. "Just name it something nice. You'll forget about the significance of the name after a while anyway."

"I know that, I'm not trying to make it something sentimental. I just want a name that _feels _right, you know?"

"I mean I guess I understand but at the same time I'm not going to be a mom any time soon so maybe not."

Maya laughed. "Hey, listen, I got a ton of stuff to do so I'm gonna have to let you go. Let me know when you plan to get here."

"Okay. Bye, Maya."

"Bye!"

Celeste hung up her phone and gazed at it for a long while before picking up her computer off the couch, setting it on her lap. She opened it up and found an international airline's website, booking a flight for two in two weeks. That way, she could have time to finish her theme, although she wouldn't get to open for the gallery but that probably wasn't a big deal. However, her easel was in the bedroom and she didn't think it'd be appropriate to go in there while he was in there, at least not right now. She sighed before surfing the internet for a while. It didn't take her long to get bored and she wiped off her makeup in the bathroom, showering quickly. She threw her hair up into a ponytail before leaving the hotel room again.

After much wandering, Celeste came across a flower shop and she brought the brightest, most lively bouquet she could find to the counter. The cashier scanned them, giving her a smile. "Is it someone's birthday?" she asked cheerfully.

Celeste giggled. "I wish. These are 'I'm sorry' flowers."

The cashier handed her the bouquet. "Good luck!"

"Thanks," Celeste answered. She walked home slowly, clenching the flowers protectively. She knew they wouldn't provide valid repentance for what she'd done but she was hoping they would be somewhat of a catalyst. When she arrived back at the hotel, she opened up the emailed receipt that the airline had sent her as confirmation of her order and she set the flowers on the keyboard, opening her computer wide and turning it away from the couch so he could see it when he left the room. She lied down on the couch and gazed at the wall, listening to the silence until she fell asleep.

When Celeste awoke, it wasn't very late although she had slept a few hours. She sat up, rubbing her eyes until her vision was clear and she saw that the door to the bedroom was cracked open now. He must have left the room at some point. She realized the flowers had moved from the keyboard to the table beside the laptop; he probably moved it to get it out of the way from the screen. She sighed, wishing she could go back in time to stop herself from going to the bar. All it had done was bring her pain in the end and make her problems greater.

She got to her feet and quietly peered into the bedroom to see Lysander lying down in the bed and gazing up at the ceiling. Quietly and slowly, she pushed open the door and she knew he noticed but he didn't dare look at her as she entered and went to her bag, withdrawing pajamas. She sat on her ankles, gazing at the clothes in her lap. "Lysander," she murmured, "are we... broken up?"

There was a long silence before he answered, "I don't know."

She clenched her clothes tightly. "Let's go to Sweet Amoris together. Maybe some time apart will be good for us. You haven't seen your brother or visited your parents in a long time and I miss Maya. We could take a break."

He stayed silent so she took it as an agreement, getting to her feet and changing into her pajamas. She approached the door to sleep on the couch when he spoke up. "You can sleep next to me."

She turned her gaze to him. "Are you sure?"

He nodded. "You said we could take a break once we get to Sweet Amoris, not now. Besides, that couch can't be comfortable."

Two weeks passed and Celeste was trying her best to please Lysander but he seemed to be retreating more and more into his shell. It was similar to the way he was before they'd begun flirting with each other; quiet and closed off. He stopped inviting her out with him and he wasn't very concerned with her much at all. She completed her theme and sold it to the gallery owner for a big check before their flight home.

The flight was long, quiet, and almost excruciating. She hated feeling uncomfortable around Lysander after she'd worked so hard to be someone important to him. She'd finally gotten where she wanted to be with him and then she threw it away just like that.

However, when the plane landed, Celeste could hardly stop smiling with excitement to see Maya. It felt good to have a breather, although she regretted her mistake. She nearly missed Maya and Castiel waiting for them in the lobby, with Castiel's hair returned to it's natural color and Maya's body being double it's normal size. She grinned, rushing over and pulling Maya into a firm embrace.

"Maya," she breathed, squeezing her, "I'm so happy to see you!"

"I'm happy to see you too, Celeste," Maya answered, "But I think my baby and I would both love it if you weren't squeezing the life out of us."

Celeste giggled, standing up straight before giving Castiel a tight hug as well, which seemed to surprise him. She then took a step back, taking them both in. "I feel like I've been away for two years, not two months."

Maya took her hands. "We have so much to tell each other! How was Paris? How was London? Is it as pretty as it seems or is everyone just pretending?"

Celeste couldn't shake her smile. "They're both _gorgeous_! I only wish I could've taken you with me but there's no way I'll have a screaming child on vacation with me."

Maya laughed. "I get where you're coming from. Hey, let's go home. We can get ready and then go out for dinner together, all four of us!"

"Actually," Lysander spoke up, "I asked my brother to pick me up. I'll be leaving with him."

"Oh," Maya answered, "That's okay. I'll be stealing Celeste then; see you later!"

He nodded and waved as Maya pulled Celeste by her wrist outside and to their car, Castiel trailing behind. Maya and Celeste climbed into the back seats together, Castiel in the driver's seat. "You got a new car," Celeste pointed out, "Perfect for a baby."

"What's going on between you and Lysander?" Castiel suddenly interrupted.

Celeste furrowed her brow. "How do you know about that?"

He chuckled. "I don't, that's why I asked." Celeste continued gazing at him with her furrowed brow in the rearview mirror. "All I'm saying is that before you left, he went on and on about 'Celeste this, Celeste that' and now he's in a rush to get away from you."

Celeste sighed. "It's so obvious that even _you_ noticed something wrong?"

"Are you insulting me?"

"He's been so quiet lately," Celeste continued, ignoring Castiel, "I can't tell what he's thinking anymore. At first, I thought maybe he'll forgive me but he doesn't seem like he's going to."

Maya touched her hand. "Don't worry, Celeste. I'm sure things will come together soon."

Celeste sighed. "I really hope so."


	12. TWELVE: Maya is always right (FINAL)

A couple of weeks passed and Celeste hadn't heard much from Lysander. Occasionally he called but the conversations were so bland that she would always regret answering the phone. However, spending time with Maya had taken her mind off of things quite a bit. Celeste was beginning to come to the conclusion that Lysander wasn't going to come back and planned to go to Japan on her own.

Maya decided to arrange the dinner she had suggested in the beginning and both girls waited in the apartment living room for Castiel's return from wherever he'd run off to so he could join them.

"You'll visit again when the baby is born, right?" Maya asked, rubbing her belly.

Celeste nodded. "Of course! I want to be one of the first to see little Cici."

Maya giggled, gazing down at herself. "I've been visiting the doctor regularly and last time I went, she said that the baby can hear what's going on outside." She rubbed her belly again before giggling. "She usually moves around and kicks a lot but whenever I'm around Castiel, she feels so calm. It's like she can sense it and I can tell she prefers him to Nathaniel. Around Nathaniel, she fidgets and kicks a lot like she wants me to get away."

Celeste laughed. "Even your unborn child ships you and Castiel together. Nathaniel is a jerk." Suddenly she realized something; the same thing she was calling Nathaniel a jerk for was the reason Lysander wasn't sure about her anymore. "Maya... what made you get back together with Nathaniel?"

Maya sighed happily, shrugging. "He's been really persistent but he's been sweet too. He knows he's walking on egg shells still. I think it's mostly because of the baby that he's trying so hard."

Celeste twiddled her thumbs. "So how do you know he won't do it again?"

"I think Ciara will keep him in check," she giggled, "But he's been giving me his all so far in our relationship. He never brushes me off anymore or ignores me and I can tell he's been acting like he used to before he did it."

Celeste sighed, leaning back. "Our situations are too different. I slept with one guy while incredibly drunk; so drunk I don't even remember it. Meanwhile, Nathaniel was perfectly sober and conscious of what he was doing and he didn't just do it once, he had a whole relationship behind your back. If you can forgive him for doing something like that, why can't Lysander forgive me?"

Maya opened her mouth to speak when the door opened. Castiel stepped in and revealed Lysander trailing behind him. Celeste hadn't realized just how much she missed him until she saw him again, her heart skipping a beat. "Are you both ready?" Castiel asked, breaking the silence.

Maya nodded, nudging Celeste. "Help me up."

Celeste got to her feet, pulling Maya to hers before leading her out the door that Castiel was holding open. She clenched Maya's hand tightly, willing herself not to throw herself at Lysander as she walked past him. She led the way to their car, climbing into the back seat when Maya withdrew her hand.

"I'm taking shotgun," she giggled, giving Celeste a wink before shutting her door and jumping into the passenger's seat. Castiel got into the driver's seat and Lysander beside Celeste and they began driving.

The car ride was quiet and the dinner didn't feel right; it mostly consisted of Maya chatting away and Castiel teasing her. They returned home late at night and Maya had gone to bathe, while Castiel went to change, leaving Lysander and Celeste alone, seated at opposite ends of the same couch.

The silence felt physically heavy and she cleared her throat just to hear some noise. "So, um... how was seeing your parents and your brother?"

He shrugged. "It was the same as always." He turned his head to gaze at her. "How was seeing Maya?"

Celeste smiled. "It was really great. I feel like I really needed this. I haven't thought about my parents since before I got here."

To her surprise, he gave her a smile. "I'm glad to hear that."

Her gaze fell to her hands. "You know... I'm planning on going to Japan next. I've always thought Japanese was such a pretty language so I can't wait to go. Did you... did you decide if you want to come with me or not?"

There was a long silence and her stomach was in knots. Somehow she felt more nervous asking him to join her the second time than she did the first. Once she felt as if her heart would leap out of her chest, she lifted her gaze to him. He appeared to be thinking and just as he opened his mouth to speak, the bathroom door opened and Maya bounced out with a smile on her face and was clad in pajamas. "It's so quiet in here," she exclaimed, plopping down in the empty chair, "Let's do something fun. Let's play spin the bottle!"

Celeste giggled. "You know, I'd be all for kissing you on any other occasion but I don't think right now is a good time."

Maya rolled her eyes. "No, silly, I meant truth spin the bottle. We ask each other questions and if the bottle points to you, you have to tell the truth. If you don't want to answer, then you have to kiss the person who asked the question."

"Maya, really, I'm not in the mood for playing middle school party games," Celeste muttered.

Maya furrowed her brow, getting to her feet and grasping Celeste and Lysander's wrists, pulling them to a free space on the carpet. "Sit down, both of you." She scampered into the kitchen and returned with an empty bottle, sitting down and completing the triangle. She set the bottle down. "I'll spin first." The spinning of the bottle seemed to last ages and Celeste could feel her heart racing, praying the bottle wouldn't land on her. Of course if her wish was granted, it would go against the natural order of the universe and the mouth of the bottle landed directly on to her. She sighed, rolling her eyes as Maya grinned at her. "Okay, Celeste! Are you single?"

Celeste glared at Maya before glancing at Lysander. "Um... I don't know."

"Okay, now you spin!"

Celeste swallowed hard as she spun the bottle, willing it not to land on Lysander. She blinked hard, watching it closely and it felt like ages before it finally stopped. She had to stifle a groan. "Alright, um..." She thought hard. Should she go with her gut and ask him something silly like _'what's your favorite color?' _Or should she do as Maya had planned and ask him a serious question? "Are... are you still mad?"

"Yes," he answered before taking the bottle and spinning it. Celeste could hear her heart thudding in her chest as the bottle spun and was simultaneously relieved and disappointed when the bottle pointed at Maya. "What are you getting out of this?"

Maya flashed him a smile. "I'm determined to get a happy best friend out of this, of course!" She gave the bottle a spin and this time it landed on Lysander instead of Celeste and Celeste could feel knots in her stomach. "How stubborn are you?"

He seemed to be getting irritated with Maya's game and Celeste couldn't blame him. "Very," he answered, giving Maya a cold look before spinning the bottle. This time it landed on Celeste again and she gazed at her hands, awaiting his question. "Do you remember anything at all from that night?" She shook her head. "Nothing at all?"

Celeste shook her head again, taking hold of the bottle and spinning it. She swallowed a sigh when it landed on Lysander again. "Okay then... what'll it take for you to forgive me?"

"A lot," he answered without meeting her gaze. He spun the bottle and it pointed to Celeste and she could feel a lump in her throat, gazing at him in anticipation for his next question. "What was going through your head?"

Celeste sighed, gazing down at her hands in her lap. "I have no clue. I was drunk and hurt and lonely and he was flirting with me." She spun the bottle and it landed between Maya and Lysander but Maya grinned, aiming it towards Lysander. Celeste sighed, shaking her head. "Do you still love me?"

The silence was excruciating before he met her gaze. "Of course I do."

She felt her heart skip a beat and was almost too dazed to notice the bottle landing on her again. She sighed, rolling her eyes. "I swear, Maya, you rigged this."

Maya giggled, shrugging. "Who knows?"

Lysander was quiet for a few long moments, gazing down at the bottle pointed at Celeste before meeting her gaze again. "Why did you do it?"

Celeste kept their gazes locked in her silence before leaning forward and pressing her lips to his. Kissing him felt good and she felt butterflies in her stomach when he kissed her back and his hands touched her waist. She held on to his cheeks, putting everything she had into the kiss and when it finished, she continued to hold his face in her palms, sitting on her ankles. "If I had a real answer to that question, I wouldn't be here right now. All I know is that I'm in love with you and I've never regretted anything so much in my life. If I could go back to that day and change everything, from when I woke up to the next day, I would. I would take back the things I said to you and I would have spent the day with you and enjoyed myself. You were only trying to help me and I took it for granted and I'm sorry. I'm so, so, so sorry."

He held her gaze for a few moments before hugging her tightly. "Celeste, I want to go with you but only on one condition."

"What's that?"

He gave her a squeeze. "I don't care if we fight or how often we fight or how severe it is, but don't _ever_ get drunk around anyone who's not me. You were always a flirty drunk."

Celeste nodded. "Okay. It's a deal."

It was the night before Celeste planned to leave on her trip with Lysander and she sat in Maya's bed, leaning against the headboard as she sketched out Lysander. Maya sat beside her, chatting away, like always without paying much attention to Celeste's drawing. Once she finished it, she held it away from her face, gazing at it.

"Is that Lysander?" Maya gushed, "Wow, that's really amazing! I've never seen you draw him before."

Celeste sighed. "I don't know. It still doesn't feel right."

Maya furrowed her brow. "What do you mean? It looks almost like a black and white photo of him."

Celeste shrugged. "It just looks strange to me, you know?"

Maya leaned her head on Celeste's shoulder. "Maybe it's because you're drawing him the way he looks at other people."

"What?"

Maya pointed at his expression in the drawing, careful not to touch it so as not to smudge the pencil marks. "He doesn't look at you that way. Maybe you're used to how _he_ looks at you, while you're drawing him the way he looks at other people. Maybe that's why."

"I don't think he looks at me any differently than anyone else."

Maya sat up with a gasp. "You're joking, right? He looks at you like you're a freaking angel descended to earth before his very eyes. You should pay more attention." She pointed at his eyes. "Make them a little wider and more sparkly and make his eyebrows go up a little higher. Part his lips."

Celeste did as Maya suggested before holding it away from her face again. "Maya," she gasped, "I think you might have been right. Do you know how long I've been trying to draw him without any success at all?"

Maya smiled. "What can I say? I'm always right."


End file.
